Updated January 4, 2026 at 9:45 AM CST
There was global uncertainty about who was in charge of Venezuela over the weekend, after the U.S. military dramatically attacked the capital of Caracas, and captured its president, Nicolás Maduro.
In a press conference on Saturday, President Trump claimed the United States was going to "run" Venezuela, saying: "We are going to run the country until we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition."
Trump indicated that Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro's deputy, had been sworn in as Venezuela's interim president, and would act as a partner in letting the United States run the country.
"She's essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again," Trump said.
Venezuela's Supreme Court later confirmed it had sworn Rodríguez in as acting president.
But Rodríguez – who was made vice president in 2018 – also delivered an address on state television in which she undermined Trump's claims.
"There is only one president in this country, and his name is Nicolás Maduro," Rodríguez said, surrounded by other Venezuelan military leaders. "We are determined to be free," she added. "What is being done to Venezuela is barbaric."
Mixed messages from the two sides
In his press conference, Trump said that Rodríguez had a conversation with the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio about what would come next for Venezuela. In that conversation, Trump claimed Rodríguez said, "'We'll do whatever you need.'" "I think she was quite gracious," Trump said.
But Rodríguez's response undermined that statement. She demanded the immediate release of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and denounced the U.S. operation as a violation of the United Nations charter.
After Rodríguez contradicted Trump, Secretary of State Rubio said he was withholding judgment. "We're going to make decisions based on their actions and their deeds in the days and weeks to come," Rubio told the New York Times.
While Maduro was captured by the U.S., several of his allies have remained in senior positions within Venezuela. Among them are Vladimir Padrino López – who as well as being defense minister is Venezuela's top ranking military officer – and Diosdado Cabello, the interior minister. They are members of a small circle of senior officials who have held power in Venezuela for more than a decade.
Maduro's allies struck a defiant tone in video messages. "They have attacked us but will not break us," said Padrino López, dressed in fatigues. Similarly, Cabello urged Venezuelans to "get out on the streets" to defend their country's sovereignty.
How far figures inside Venezuela helped the U.S. with its operation to seize Maduro remains unconfirmed. According to the New York Times, a CIA source within the Venezuelan government was crucial in monitoring Maduro's location before his capture.
The CIA reportedly had a group of officers on the ground in Venezuela since last August, as well as using a fleet of stealth drones. The U.S. government had offered a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro's capture.
Unclear role for Venezuela's opposition
After the U.S. strike on Caracas, many around the world had assumed that Venezuela's opposition, who have long faced persecution, would have a role in running the country.
In 2024, opposition candidate Edmundo González was widely believed to have won a contentious election against the incumbent, Maduro, with an exit poll published by the U.S. firm Edison Research showing González leading Maduro 65% to 31%. However, Maduro claimed victory, and González was forced to seek exile in Spain.
González ran in the 2024 election because María Corina Machado, the opposition leader, had been banned from being the candidate. Machado garnered international acclaim last year when she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Soon after the U.S. operation on Saturday, Machado called for González to "immediately assume his constitutional mandate and be recognized as commander-in-chief." In a statement, Machado said her movement would "restore order, free political prisoners, build an exceptional country and bring our children back home."
However, in his press conference, Trump poured cold water on the Venezuelan opposition's claims on power. Asked directly about Machado, Trump told reporters: "I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn't have the support within or the respect within the country."
Last month, Machado secretly left Venezuela, where she had been living in hiding, to receive her Nobel Prize at a ceremony in Norway. It is not clear whether she has since returned to her home country.
Delcy Rodríguez's career history
Though Delcy Rodríguez defended Maduro's claim on the presidency in her statement on Saturday, the vice president has previously been seen as more moderate than her former boss.
After Venezuela's economy endured a crash from 2013, Rodríguez helped spearhead a market-friendly policy overhaul, trying to win back Venezuela's economic elites, as well as foreign investors and diplomats.
Rodríguez comes from a family of political activists. Her father was Jorge Antonio Rodríguez, a Marxist leader who led the kidnapping in Caracas of William Niehous, an American businessman, in 1976. Jorge Antonio Rodríguez died that same year after being interrogated by intelligence agents. Delcy Rodríguez's brother Jorge is also a noted Maduro ally, and currently serves as the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela.
The Venezuelan constitution says a new election must be called within a month in the event of the president's absence, but it is unclear whether that rule would apply in such unprecedented circumstances.
José Ignacio Hernández, a Constitutional and Administrative Law Professor at Venezuela's Andrés Bello Catholic University and the Central University of Venezuela, told Americas Quarterly that Rodríguez didn't seem interested in serving as interim president.
"In her first broadcast conference, she did not act as an interim president; instead, she confirmed that Maduro remains the president," Hernández said."Maduro is no longer the de facto president of Venezuela, but this has not yet ended the tyranny in the country."
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