Venezuelan Supreme Court appoints Maduro’s deputy interim head of state
4 January 12:14
Vice President of Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez has been appointed interim head of the republic after the capture of President Nicolas Maduro by US special forces. This decision was made on Saturday by the country’s Supreme Court, which ordered Rodriguez to immediately assume presidential powers as acting president in accordance with the Constitution, Bloomberg writes, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The court ruling says that Rodriguez will assume the presidency to “guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defense of the country.”
on January 3, President Donald Trump, commenting on the operation to capture Maduro, said that Rodriguez had taken over the country and agreed to cooperate with Washington after the arrest of the Venezuelan president and that she had spoken to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the issue. However, shortly after Trump’s speech, Rodriguez appeared on state television with her brother, Venezuelan Parliament Speaker Jorge Rodriguez, as well as Interior and Defense Ministers Diosdado Cabello and Vladimir Padrino Lopez, saying that Maduro remains the only president of Venezuela. Earlier, Reuters sources reported that Rodriguez was in Russia.
“I want to say to our Venezuela, to our people: ‘There is a very definite government here,'” the vice president said in a televised address to the nation. In addition, Rodriguez condemned the “armed aggression against our country” and announced the launch of the Venezuelan Defense Council. According to Rodriguez, the government is ready to defend the country. She also called for calm and unity.
According to Reuters, citing experts, power in Venezuela is concentrated in the hands of a narrow circle of high-ranking officials, and within Maduro’s inner circle, a balance is maintained between the civilian and military branches of government. Rodriguez and her brother represent the civilian part of the regime, while Padrino and Cabello represent the military.
On Saturday night, the United States conducted an operation in Venezuela, striking a series of military targets and capturing Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores. on January 4, the arrested president was taken to Brooklyn and sent to a detention center. According to U.S. officials, he is expected to appear in a Manhattan federal court on Monday on charges of running a “corrupt, illegitimate government” that is responsible for organizing a large-scale drug trade that has brought thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States.
