Maduro issues first statement from US jail after abduction

• Nicolas Maduro’s son released a video, quoting his father as "doing well" in a US federal jail while awaiting trial on drug-trafficking charges following his January 3 abduction by special forces.
• Despite pro-Maduro rallies, the interim government led by Delcy Rodriguez has begun formal "exploratory" talks with US envoys in Caracas to restore diplomatic ties and discuss the sale of Venezuela’s oil reserves to the Trump administration.

Abducted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro said he was "doing well" in a US jail as he and his wife Cilia Flores await trial, the ex-leader's son said in a video Saturday.

"We are doing well. We are fighters," Maduro's son, lawmaker Nicolas Maduro Guerra, quoted him as saying. Maduro Guerra spoke in a video released by the ruling PSUV party.

Supporters of Nicolas Maduro staged protests Saturday, a week after his dramatic abduction by US forces.

Waving flags and placards with the face of the mustachioed ex-leader and his wife Cilia, around 1,000 protesters rallied in the west of Caracas and a few hundred in the eastern Petare district.

Notably absent from the rallies were top figures from the government, which has said it is reviving diplomatic contact with Washington and discussing possible oil sales to the United States.

Interim president Delcy Rodriguez instead attended an agricultural fair, where she vowed in televised comments she would "not rest for a minute until we have our president back."

The other two hardline powers in the government, Interior Minister and street enforcer Diosdado Cabello, and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, were not seen at the demos either.

Despite the shock of his abduction during deadly nighttime raids on January 3, signs emerged Friday of cooperation with Washington after US President Donald Trump's claim to be "in charge" of the South American country.

Rodriguez said Venezuela would deal with the US through "the diplomatic route" and Washington said US envoys visited Caracas on Friday to discuss reopening their embassy.

A State Department official told AFP on Saturday they left again on Friday "as scheduled."

"The Trump Administration remains in close contact with interim authorities" in Venezuela, the official added.

She has pledged to cooperate with Trump over his demands for access to Venezuela's huge oil reserves.

But she also moved to placate the powerful pro-Maduro base by insisting Venezuela is not "subordinate" to Washington.