Fatimah Otunsanya
Venezuela’s Supreme Court has directed Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez to assume the role of acting president after the United States seized President Nicolás Maduro and transported him to New York to face trial.
In a ruling issued late Saturday, the court instructed Rodríguez to “assume and exercise, in an acting capacity, all the attributes, duties and powers inherent to the office of President to guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defence of the nation.”
The court emphasised that Rodríguez’s interim leadership is intended to “ensure the continuity of state administration and the defense of national sovereignty in light of the forced absence of the President of the Republic.”
It further stated that deliberations would continue to determine the legal framework necessary to uphold governance and maintain national security during this period.
Earlier on Saturday, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States would take temporary control of Venezuela to oversee a “safe, proper, and judicious” transition.
Speaking at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump said the operation would include deploying American oil companies to repair Venezuela’s heavily damaged oil infrastructure, while US forces remain on alert.
Trump provided few details on how the US would exercise authority in Venezuela, where the vice-president, legislature, and military continue to publicly oppose foreign intervention.
He stated, “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country.”
A plane carrying Maduro landed shortly before 5 p.m. local time at Stewart Airport in New York. From there, he is scheduled to be transported to New York City to face charges related to drug trafficking and weapons offenses.
Trump described the intervention as a “strategic operation” involving senior US officials, emphasizing that it aims not only to restore Venezuela’s oil industry but also to ensure that ordinary citizens’ needs are addressed during the transition.