Venezuela’s Supreme Court has ordered Vice President Delcy Rodriguez to temporarily assume presidential powers in a bid to preserve administrative continuity following the dramatic seizure of President Nicolas Maduro by United States special forces.
In a ruling delivered late on Saturday, the high court directed Rodriguez to “assume and exercise, in an acting capacity, all the attributes, duties and powers inherent to the office of President… to guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defence of the nation.”
The court, however, stopped short of declaring Maduro permanently absent from office, a constitutional step that would have required the organisation of presidential elections within 30 days, underscoring the legal uncertainty surrounding the unprecedented intervention.
He was taken into US custody in a pre-dawn military operation and flown out of Venezuela alongside his wife, amid air strikes on military installations in and around Caracas. By Saturday night, the Venezuelan leader was being held in a New York jail, where he is expected to be arraigned on drug trafficking and weapons charges.
The White House later released footage showing Maduro, handcuffed and wearing sandals, being escorted through a US Drug Enforcement Administration facility. “Good night, happy new year,” the 63-year-old was heard saying in English.
US President Donald Trump confirmed the operation and indicated that Washington would play a direct role in Venezuela’s future governance. “We’re going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place,” Trump said, adding that he was “designating people” from his cabinet to oversee developments in the country.
Trump also suggested that US troops could be deployed, stating that Washington was “not afraid of boots on the ground,” while signalling interest in working with Rodriguez rather than Venezuela’s opposition.
“She’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump said of the vice president. Rodriguez, however, rejected any suggestion of collaboration, demanding Maduro’s release and vowing to “defend” the country.
Amid competing claims to authority, US-backed opposition leader Maria Corina Machado declared on social media that “the hour of freedom has arrived,” urging opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia to “immediately” assume the presidency. Trump dismissed the idea, saying Machado lacked “support or respect” within Venezuela.
One area where Trump was unequivocal was Venezuela’s oil sector. “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies… go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure,” he said. “We’ll be selling large amounts of oil.”
International reaction was swift and critical. China said it “strongly condemns” the US operation, while France warned that a political solution cannot “be imposed from outside.” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected.”
At Venezuela’s request, the UN Security Council is scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss the crisis, according to the Somali presidency of the Council.
The military operation itself involved heavy firepower. Caracas residents reported explosions and military helicopters shortly after 2:00 am, as air strikes hit a major military base and an airbase for nearly an hour.
The top US military officer, General Dan Caine, said 150 aircraft participated in the operation, which relied on months of intelligence gathering into Maduro’s daily routines, including “what he ate” and the pets he kept. He said Maduro and his wife “gave up” without resistance and that there was “no loss of US life.”
Venezuelan authorities have yet to release casualty figures, though Trump told the New York Post that “many” Cubans in Maduro’s security detail were killed.
By daylight, much of Caracas had fallen silent, with police stationed outside public buildings and smoke lingering in the air, as the country entered an uncertain phase marked by competing claims of authority, foreign involvement and constitutional ambiguity.
