Venezuela names acting president

Former VP Delcy Rodriguez has demanded that the US free Nicolas Maduro, vowing that Venezuela “will never again be a colony”

Venezuela’s Supreme Court ordered Vice President Delcy Rodriguez to assume the role of interim president after Nicolas Maduro was kidnapped by US forces from Caracas and flown to New York to face criminal charges.

In a Saturday ruling, the court’s Constitutional Chamber said Rodriguez would assume the office “to guarantee continuity of government,” adding it would initiate a legal discussion to determine the framework needed to ensure the “continuity of the State,” the “administration of government,” and the “defense of sovereignty” in the face of Maduro’s “forced absence.”

Rodriguez, 56, a lawyer born in Caracas, has been vice president since 2018. She held a succession of senior posts under the late Hugo Chavez and Maduro, including foreign minister. At the moment of Maduro’s abduction on Saturday, she was also the oil-rich country’s Minister of Petroleum. The official, who has been widely viewed as a staunch Maduro ally, has been the target of US and EU sanctions.

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The US captured Maduro to put him on trial for drug trafficking and weapons-related charges in an unprecedented raid on Caracas on Saturday. US President Donald Trump has since claimed that Washington would “run” Venezuela until a transition.

Rodriguez has fired back, demanding that the US immediately release Maduro, while stressing that Venezuela “will never return to being the colony of another empire” and “never return to being slaves.” 

At the same time, she said that, in principle, Caracas is ready to move towards “respectful relations” with Washington. Trump said earlier that Rodriguez had spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio by phone and appeared willing to work with Washington.

Rodriguez has also talked to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who “expressed firm solidarity with the Venezuelan people in the face of armed aggression.”

Venezuela’s leadership has repeatedly denied accusations that it is connected with the drug trade, arguing that the charges coming from the US only serve as a pretext for regime change.