The vice president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, took office this Monday (5) as the country’s interim dictator, two days after the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, congresswoman Cilia Flores, by United States forces in a military operation in Caracas and three other neighboring states.
Sworn in by her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, who was re-elected today as president of Parliament, the now first woman in the history of Venezuela to govern the country said that, in “terrible hours of threats against stability”, she will not rest “not one minute to guarantee peace”.
“I come with pain for the suffering that was caused to the Venezuelan people after an illegitimate military aggression against our homeland,” declared Delcy during the event, in which he also alleged that Maduro and Flores are “hostages” in the United States.
She stated that she will not rest until “she sees Venezuela in the destiny that belongs to it and on the historical pedestal of honor that belongs to it as a free, sovereign and independent nation”, as well as “guaranteeing a government that provides social happiness, political stability and political security”.
The vice president was summoned by the Supreme Court to act as interim dictator after the capture of Maduro and Flores.
The Minister of Hydrocarbons had already led her first council of ministers yesterday and appointed a commission, headed by her brother and made up of Maduro’s children, to manage the release of Maduro and his wife.
She also announced on the Telegram platform a proposal for the US to work on a joint “cooperation agenda”.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump demanded that Delcy have “full access” to Venezuela in terms of natural resources and revealed that he is considering reopening the American embassy in Caracas.
In an interview with The Atlantic magazine, Trump said that if she “doesn’t do what’s right”, a “worse” future than Maduro’s awaits her.
