MIAMI - Delcy Rodríguez, the former Vice President of Venezuela and second-in-command to the recently ousted leader Nicolás Maduro, has been officially recognized by the Venezuelan Supreme Court as the new President of the South American nation.
Magistrate Tania D’Amelio, the President of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, Venezuela’s highest judicial body, announced the transition on the same day that U.S. air assets launched a devastating attack on the capital of Caracas.
In the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, Jan. 3, the elite U.S. special forces unit, Delta Force, penetrated Maduro’s private residence in Caracas, extricating the Venezuelan leader, along with his wife, Cilia Flores, and transporting the pair to the USS Iwo Jima stationed in the South Caribbean.
Rodríguez, 56, served as vice president under Maduro since 2018, and previously held several government positions during the Hugo Chávez years, earning a reputation for brand loyalty to the Chavista government machine, once being called a “tiger” by her predecessor for her staunch defense of the socialist policies of the Chavismo movement.
In the immediate aftermath of the capture of Maduro by U.S. forces, reports emerged from prominent news outlets speculating that Rodríguez may have fled to Russia in an attempt to flee a U.S. intervention.
Those reports, however, later turned out to be inaccurate.
Hours following the operation, Rodríguez addressed the National Defense Council of Venezuela, condemning the U.S. attack, asserting that Maduro is the “only president in this country”, and demanding “proof of life” from U.S. authorities.
President Trump, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other members of the national security apparatus, held a press conference in Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private residence in Palm Beach, Florida on Saturday, where he confirmed that his administration spoke with Rodríguez following Maduro’s removal, stating that Rodríguez had been sworn in as president.
President Trump also stated that Rodríguez is willing to cooperate with Washington and “will do whatever” the U.S. needed, adding, “She really doesn't have a choice.”
Trump also downplayed the idea of facilitating the ascendency of Nobel Peace Prize winner and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado to the seat of presidential power in Venezuela, stating:
“I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn't have the support within or the respect within the country. She's a very nice woman, but she doesn't have the respect,” Trump said.
