CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) 鈥� Venezuelans on Saturday scrambled to understand who was in charge of their country after the U.S. military captured , ousting the strongman who had outlasted a , several , mass and in the vast nation of 29 million.
鈥淲hat will happen tomorrow?鈥� asked Juan Pablo Petrone, a resident of Venezuela’s capital of Caracas. As fear gripped the city, streets quickly emptied save for long lines snaking from supermarkets and gas stations. 鈥淲hat will happen in the next hour?鈥�
President Donald Trump offered a : The United States would take control of Venezuela, perhaps in coordination with one of Maduro’s most trusted aides.
Delcy Rodr铆guez, who is next in the presidential line of succession, served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, overseeing much of Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy as well as its . On Saturday, Venezuela鈥檚 high court ordered her to assume the role of interim president.
鈥淪he鈥檚 essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,鈥� Trump told reporters of Rodr铆guez, who faced U.S. sanctions during Trump鈥檚 first administration for her role in undermining Venezuelan democracy.
In a major snub, Trump said opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was , didn’t have the support to run the country.
Trump said Rodr铆guez had a long conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in which Trump claimed she said, 鈥溾�榃e鈥檒l do whatever you need.鈥欌��
鈥淚 think she was quite gracious,鈥� Trump added. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn鈥檛 have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind.鈥�
Senior officials remain in place
Key Venezuelan officials appeared to have survived the military operation and held onto their jobs, at least for now. There was no immediate sign that the U.S. was running Venezuela.
Rodr铆guez tried to project strength and unity among the ruling party鈥檚 many factions, downplaying any hint of betrayal. In remarks on state television before the court decision, she demanded the immediate release of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and denounced the U.S. operation as a flagrant violation of the United Nations charter.
鈥淭here is only one president in this country, and his name is Nicol谩s Maduro,鈥� Rodr铆guez said, surrounded by top civilian officials and military commanders.
Seeking to assuage the jittery public, Venezuelan military officials struck a defiant tone in video messages, lashing out at Trump and vowing to stand up to U.S. pressure.
鈥淭hey have attacked us but will not break us,鈥� said Defense Minister Gen. Vladimir Padrino L贸pez, dressed in fatigues.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, among Maduro’s top enforcers, urged Venezuelans to 鈥済et out on the streets鈥� to defend the country鈥檚 sovereignty.
鈥淭hese rats attacked and they will regret what they did,鈥� he said of the U.S.
Some Venezuelans heeded his call, rallying in support of the government and burning American flags in scattered gatherings across Caracas on Saturday.
But most people stayed inside out of fear.
鈥淲hat’s happening is unprecedented,鈥� said Yanire Lucas, another Caracas resident, picking up pieces of glass from an explosion at a nearby military base that blew out the windows of her house.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still on edge, and now we鈥檙e unsure what to do.鈥�
No sign of a political transition
Trump indicated that Rodr铆guez had been sworn in already as president of Venezuela, per the transfer of power outlined in the constitution.
But state TV did not broadcast any swearing-in ceremony.
During Rodr铆guez’s televised speech, a ticker at the bottom of the screen identified her as the vice president. She gave no sign that she would be cooperating with the U.S., and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
鈥淲hat is being done to Venezuela is an atrocity that violates international law,鈥� she said in her address. 鈥淗istory and justice will make the extremists who promoted this armed aggression pay.鈥�
The Venezuelan constitution also says a new election must be called within a month in the event of the president鈥檚 absence. But experts have been debating whether the succession scenario would apply here, given the government鈥檚 and the .
Strong ties with Wall Street
A lawyer educated in Britain and France, Rodr铆guez has a long history of representing the revolution started by the on the world stage.
She and her brother, Jorge Rodr铆guez, head of the , have sterling leftist credentials born from tragedy. Their father was a socialist leader who died in police custody in the 1970s, a crime that shook many activists of the era, including a young Maduro.
Unlike many in Maduro鈥檚 inner circle, the Rodr铆guez siblings have avoided criminal indictment in the U.S.
Delcy Rodr铆guez developed strong ties with Republicans in the oil industry and on Wall Street who balked at the notion of U.S.-led regime change.
Among her past interlocutors were Blackwater founder Erik Prince and, more recently, who tried to negotiate a deal with Maduro for greater U.S. influence in Venezuela.
Internal tensions could erupt
Fluent in English, Rodr铆guez is sometimes portrayed as a well-educated, market-friendly moderate in contrast to the military hard-liners who took up arms with Ch谩vez against Venezuela’s democratically elected president in the 1990s.
Many of them, especially Cabello, are wanted in the U.S. on drug trafficking charges and stand accused of serious human rights abuses. But they continue to hold sway over the armed forces, the traditional arbiter of political disputes in Venezuela.
That presents major challenges to Rodr铆guez asserting authority. But some analysts said they expected Venezuela鈥檚 power brokers to close ranks, as they’ve done before.
鈥淭hese leaders have all seen the value of staying united. Cabello has always taken a second seat or third seat, knowing that his fate is tied up with Maduro鈥檚, and now he very well might do that again,鈥� said David Smilde, a sociology professor at Tulane University who has studied Venezuela’s political dynamics over the past three decades.
Much depends on the state of Venezuela’s military after the U.S. bombing raid, Smilde added. 鈥淚f it doesn鈥檛 have much firepower anymore, they鈥檙e more vulnerable and diminished.鈥�
An snub of the opposition
Shortly before Trump’s press conference, Machado, the opposition leader, called on her ally 鈥� a retired diplomat widely considered to have won the 鈥� to 鈥渋mmediately assume his constitutional mandate and be recognized as commander-in-chief.”
In a triumphant statement, Machado promised that her movement would 鈥渞estore order, free , build an exceptional country and bring our children back home.鈥�
She added: 鈥淭oday we are prepared to assert our mandate and take power.”
Trump seemed to throw cold water on those plans.
Asked about Machado, Trump was blunt: 鈥淚 think it would be very tough for (Machado) to be the leader,” he said, shocking many Venezuelan viewers who expected Trump’s talk of liberation to mean a swift democratic transition.
鈥淪he doesn鈥檛 have the support or respect within the country.鈥�
Machado has not responded to Trump’s remarks.
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Associated Press reporter Joshua Goodman contributed to this report from Miami. DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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