The constitutional chamber of the Venezuelan Supreme Court on Saturday evening appointed Delcy Rodríguez, the vice president, to assume the role of acting president in the absence of Nicolás Maduro, who was arrested in Caracas during an operation conducted by U.S. forces.
The court's decision stipulated that Rodríguez, in her capacity as acting president, is to assume all duties and powers granted to the office of the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in order to ensure the continuity of governance and comprehensive defense of the homeland, as stated by the head of the constitutional chamber, Tania D'Amelio, while reading the decision on an official televised broadcast.
The judges did not currently declare Maduro absent indefinitely, which would have led to early elections within 30 days.
Earlier, Rodríguez called for the immediate release of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, asserting that Maduro is the "only president" of the country, in a televised speech broadcast by state television following a meeting of the National Defense Council.
In her speech, she noted that the Venezuelan people responded to the call for mobilization that President Maduro had previously announced, confirming that popular cadres took to the streets, and that the Bolivarian National Armed Forces and citizen security agencies were deployed, as part of what she described as the defense of national independence and sovereignty following a "brutal attack" on the country early Saturday.
It is worth noting that Maduro arrived in the United States on Saturday evening local time after being arrested by U.S. forces during a military operation in Caracas, and he is expected to appear before a federal court in Manhattan, New York, on Monday.
Here are some facts about the interim president:
- Maduro has called Rodriguez a “tiger” for her diehard defense of his socialist government.
- She works closely with her brother, Jorge Rodriguez, who is the head of the national assembly legislature.
- Caracas native Rodriguez, 56, was born on May 18, 1969, opens new tab and is the daughter of left-wing guerrilla fighter Jorge Antonio Rodriguez, who founded the revolutionary Liga Socialista party in the 1970s.
- Rodriguez's roles as finance and oil minister, held simultaneously with her vice-presidential post, have made her a key figure in the management of Venezuela's economy and gained her major influence with the country's withered private sector. She has applied orthodox economic policies in a bid to fight exaggerated inflation.
- She called on the U.S. government to provide proof of life for Maduro and his wife in an audio message played on state television on Saturday, but her exact whereabouts are unknown.
- She is an attorney who graduated from Universidad Central de Venezuela and rose rapidly through the political ranks in the last decade, serving as Communication and Information Minister between 2013 and 2014.
- Rodriguez, known as a lover of designer fashions, was foreign minister from 2014 to 2017, during which time she attempted to crash a Mercosur trade bloc meeting in Buenos Aires, following Venezuela's suspension from the group.
- She began serving as the head of a pro-government Constituent Assembly, which expanded Maduro's powers, in 2017.
- Rodriguez was named vice president in June 2018, with Maduro announcing the appointment on X by describing her as "a young woman, brave, seasoned, daughter of a martyr, revolutionary and tested in a thousand battles."
- In August 2024, Maduro added the oil ministry to Rodriguez’s portfolio, where she has been tasked with managing escalating U.S. sanctions on the country's most important industry.
