On Monday, Venezuela’s parliament swore in Delcy Rodriguez as the country’s interim president. This happened two days after US troops took her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro, to New York for trial.
Rodriguez took the oath of office in front of the National Assembly and told lawmakers she was doing so “in the name of all Venezuelans.” She has said she will work with Washington.
She claimed she was “in pain over the kidnapping of our heroes, the hostages in the United States,” referring to Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who are facing narcotics accusations in New York along with other Venezuelan officials, according to AFP.
Parliament condemned the capture of Marxist leader Maduro and promised to support his replacement, Rodriguez, after the US military intervention that startled Caracas and the world.
Thousands of Venezuelans gathered outside the legislature to demand the release of their leader. They chanted, “Maduro, hold on: Venezuela is rising!”
Flur Alberto, 32, a protester, told our reporter, “No matter what Nicolás Maduro has to answer for in court, this was not the way to do it.”
Meanwhile, inside, members of the National Assembly fully supported Rodriguez, who had been Maduro’s vice president, and re-elected her brother Jorge Rodriguez as speaker of the assembly.
When the session started yesterday, parliamentarians screamed “Let’s go Nico!” This was a slogan for Maduro’s presidential campaign before the 2024 elections, which the opposition and several world capitals, including Washington, called fake.
At President Donald Trump’s request, US troops attacked the capital of Venezuela early on Saturday and took Maduro and his wife into custody. They were then flown to New York to face drug trafficking accusations.
Mr. Trump, the president of the United States, says he is the world’s prosecutor, judge, and police officer, senior congressman Fernando Soto Rojas stated in a speech to his colleagues.
“We say you won’t be able to do it.” “And we will use all of our solidarity to make sure that our legitimate president, Nicolas Maduro, wins and returns to Miraflores,” the presidential palace, he said.
“Good Hands”
The Supreme Court of Venezuela told Delcy Rodriguez to take over as president “in an acting capacity” on Saturday. The military also backed her on Sunday.
The powerful Rodriguez siblings are now in charge of both the executive and legislative institutions of Venezuela after Jorge Rodriguez was re-elected.
On Monday, Jorge Rodriguez promised his fellow lawmakers that he would use “all procedures, all platforms, and all avenues” to bring back “Nicolas Maduro Moros, my brother, my president.”
Nicolas Maduro Guerra, Maduro’s son and a member of the legislature, also backed the acting president.
During a speech to parliament, Maduro Guerra, who is also known as “Nicolasito,” said Rodriguez, “Count on me, count on my family.” He also said that the country was “in good hands” until his parents “returned.”
In May, Venezuela held elections for new members of its single-chamber parliament. Most of the opposition did not vote, therefore the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and its allies held 256 of the 286 seats.
Maduro Guerra said yesterday that Venezuela “doesn’t ask for favors or special treatment; it demands respect.” We aim to have good relationships with everyone in the world based on equality, respect, and working together, without threats or interference.
He went outside to talk to the demonstrators and told them he was in “indirect” touch with his father.
He stated, “They have a strong team over there that is helping us.”
Delcy Rodriguez, who claimed on Saturday that Maduro is still the country’s “only” president, subsequently offered to cooperate with Washington, which has said it will deal with Venezuela’s authorities if they do what it wants.
Trump, on the other hand, told Rodriguez that if she didn’t listen to US demands for policy changes and access to oil, she may end up worse off than Maduro.
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