With former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in custody in New York, his former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez — a Maduro loyalist and leading figure within the regime for nearly eight years — has been sworn in as the acting president of Venezuela.
Since Maduro’s ouster, Rodríguez is striking a delicate balance, telling the U.S. she wants lasting cooperation while also telling Venezuelans she condemns Maduro’s capture as a kidnapping.
As his vice president in 2024, she backed the election results that were declared fraudulent by international monitors. CBS News was in Caracas with opposition leader María Corina Machado when Maduro declared victory.
“This is a grotesque violation of our popular will, and everybody knows it,” Machado said back in July, following the election.
Soon after, Maduro threatened Machado with arrest and she went into hiding. But in October, after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, she appeared confident.
“The regime change was already mandated by the Venezuelan people,” Machado told CBS News.
Machado was rescued from Venezuela in a tense and secret operation in December and taken to Norway to reunite with her family and collect her Nobel Prize.
But Venezuela’s political future remains uncertain. President Trump claims the U.S. is “in charge,” and says that, while he has not spoken to her directly, Rodríguez is being cooperative. He told The Atlantic on Sunday that “if she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.”
Asked why Machado was not put in charge, Mr. Trump on Saturday said she lacks the support and respect of the Venezuelan people needed to lead them.
Mr. Trump has hinted at possible elections in Venezuela further down the road. Some, including Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, believe that Machado could win over Venezuelans. Diaz-Balart told CBS News she would “probably” win an election, noting that she has “a history of fighting that regime.”