Venezuela’s Supreme Court late Saturday directed Vice President Delcy Rodríguez to assume the role of interim president after the United States detained President Nicolás Maduro and removed him from the country.
The ruling, delivered late Saturday during a televised court session, declared that Maduro was in a “material and temporary impossibility to exercise his functions,” triggering constitutional provisions governing presidential absence, CNN reported.
Reading out the order, Supreme Court Justice Tania D’Amelio announced that Rodríguez would “assume and exercise, as acting president, all the powers, duties, and faculties inherent to the office of president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, to guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defense of the nation.”
Venezuela’s constitution stipulates that executive authority transfers to the vice president in cases of temporary or permanent presidential absence — a provision the court cited to justify its decision, according to CNN.
Maduro Transfer Preparations Underway in the US
As Caracas grappled with the political fallout, US authorities began preparations to move the detained Venezuelan leader to the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in New York City.
The federal jail has long faced criticism over overcrowding, chronic staffing shortages, inmate violence and crumbling infrastructure, CNN reported. Constructed in the 1990s to ease prison congestion, the MDC has housed several high-profile detainees, including R. Kelly, Martin Shkreli, Ghislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman-Fried and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Suspected cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García was also held at the facility while awaiting trial on murder and drug trafficking charges.
The jail’s conditions have repeatedly drawn scrutiny. In June 2024, an inmate was fatally stabbed, followed by another death during a fight the next month. A major power outage in 2019 left detainees without heat or electricity for nearly a week, leading to a Justice Department probe and a USD 10 million settlement for affected inmates, CNN reported.
The MDC is currently New York City’s only federal detention centre after the Manhattan Metropolitan Correctional Center was shut down following financier Jeffrey Epstein’s death in 2019.
Opposition Jubilation Gives Way to Uncertainty
Back in Venezuela, the immediate aftermath of the US military action — which included airstrikes and the detention of Maduro and his wife — initially sparked celebration among opposition figures.
“Venezuelans, the hour of freedom has arrived,” opposition leader María Corina Machado said, according to CNN.
That optimism, however, quickly faded after US President Donald Trump signalled hesitation about backing Machado, instead suggesting openness to working with Maduro ally Delcy Rodríguez.
Opposition-linked communication channels remained largely silent for much of the day, reflecting growing uncertainty over Washington’s next steps.
Machado had urged the immediate installation of Edmundo González Urrutia as president and called on the armed forces to rally behind him. González is recognised by several Western governments as the legitimate winner of Venezuela’s disputed 2024 presidential election.
Addressing reporters later, Trump said he had not spoken with Machado and questioned her domestic support, describing her as a “very nice woman” while asserting that she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country” to lead Venezuela, CNN reported.
Perp Walk Footage and Bolton’s Revelations
Amid the unfolding crisis, US authorities released video footage showing the captured Venezuelan leader in handcuffs during a staged perp walk. In the clip, Maduro is seen wishing reporters and Drug Enforcement Administration agents “Happy New Year” and “Good Night.”
Separately, former US National Security Advisor John Bolton told CNN that plans to remove Maduro had been presented to Trump during his first term but failed to advance.
Bolton said the effort stalled because officials were unable to keep the president “focused” on the issue, adding that Trump had been “very interested in the Venezuelan oil” at the time.
While Bolton’s team succeeded in engaging Trump on the idea of regime change, he said they “couldn’t keep him focused on it.” He also noted that Venezuela’s opposition had believed sustained economic pressure alone would fracture Maduro’s grip on power.
According to CNN, the United States later launched what Trump described as a “large scale strike against Venezuela,” culminating in Maduro’s capture. The operation was carried out without congressional approval, marking one of the most consequential and controversial US interventions in the region in decades.
