Two days after United States forces detained Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, former vice president Delcy Rodríguez has been sworn in as interim president of Venezuela.
The swearing-in ceremony took place on Monday at the National Assembly amid intense international scrutiny and early signals of possible engagement with Washington, according to AFP.
Addressing lawmakers, Rodríguez said she took the oath “in the name of all Venezuelans,” while expressing anguish over the detention of Maduro and his wife, whom she described as “our heroes, the hostages in the United States.”
The National Assembly condemned the US operation that led to Maduro’s capture and pledged full support for Rodríguez. Lawmakers also re-elected her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, as speaker of parliament, further consolidating the family’s hold on both the executive and legislative arms of government.
As the session opened, legislators chanted “¡Vamos Nico!”, a slogan from Maduro’s 2024 re-election campaign, which was widely criticised by opposition groups and several foreign governments, including the United States, as fraudulent.
Senior lawmaker Fernando Soto Rojas accused US President Donald Trump of overreach, saying Washington was attempting to act as “the prosecutor, the judge and the policeman of the world.”
“We will not allow it,” he said. “We will deploy all our solidarity so that our legitimate president, Nicolás Maduro, returns victorious to Miraflores.”
Venezuela’s Supreme Court had authorised Rodríguez to assume the presidency in an acting capacity on Saturday, a move formally endorsed by the military on Sunday.
Jorge Rodríguez vowed to explore “all procedures, all platforms and all avenues” to secure Maduro’s return, while the former president’s son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, also pledged loyalty to the interim administration.
“Count on me, count on my family,” he said. “The country is in good hands until our return.”
The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and its allies currently control 256 of the 286 seats in parliament following elections in May that were largely boycotted by opposition parties.
Maduro Guerra reiterated the government’s foreign policy stance, saying Venezuela seeks relations with all countries “based on equality, mutual respect and cooperation, without threats and without interference.”
While Rodríguez insisted that Maduro remains Venezuela’s “only” president, she also signalled openness to cooperation with Washington, which has indicated it could engage with Caracas if its demands on reforms and oil access are met.
However, Trump warned that Rodríguez could face consequences worse than Maduro’s if she failed to comply with US directives.
