After Maduro’s Capture, Venezuela Names Delcy Rodríguez Interim President

Key Points

• Venezuela’s Supreme Court tapped Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as interim president after U.S. forces seized Nicolás Maduro.
• Trump said the U.S. would “run” Venezuela until a transition and warned further strikes were possible, pushing the crisis to the U.N.
• Gold jumped above $4,424 an ounce; JPMorgan said Venezuela and PDVSA bonds could rise up to 10 points.

Venezuela’s leadership moved quickly to contain a power vacuum after U.S. special forces captured Nicolás Maduro in Caracas and transferred him to New York to face U.S. narco-terrorism and drug-trafficking charges first announced in 2020.

On Saturday, the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Chamber ordered Vice President Delcy Rodríguez to assume the role of interim president, saying it was necessary to guarantee “administrative continuity” and the nation’s defense during Maduro’s “forced absence.”

The ruling said the court would debate the legal framework to ensure continuity of the state and “defense of sovereignty.”

President Donald Trump cast the raid as both punishment and policy. He said the United States would “run” Venezuela until a “safe” transition could be arranged and warned a second strike was possible if the remaining leadership did not cooperate.

After Maduro’s Capture, Venezuela Names Delcy Rodríguez Interim President

Supporters called it overdue accountability for a narco-state; critics called it an illegal kidnapping.

Reuters reported the operation involved months of planning, a rehearsed safe-house scenario, and more than 150 aircraft; it also knocked out power in parts of Caracas and struck military installations. Cuba said 32 of its military and intelligence personnel were killed in the raid.

Rodríguez, 56, is no placeholder. Vice president since 2018, she has served as foreign minister and is widely viewed as part of the regime’s core. Our reporting has shown that her subsequent moves—dissolving the state intelligence coordination center, replacing top military commanders, and reopening hydrocarbons and mining to private investment—would follow a deliberate China-style economic reform model that keeps political controls intact while courting foreign capital. However, critics note that the opposition’s unity has frayed since Maduro’s capture, with María Corina Machado seeking international backing and prisoner releases while Henrique Capriles works to rebuild influence inside the National Assembly, raising doubts about whether any future election will be trusted.

Her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, leads the National Assembly, underscoring how tightly the interim arrangement remains inside the ruling circle. The immediate question is whether Washington’s pressure breaks that circle—or hardens it.

Markets are already betting both ways: gold surged on safe-haven demand, and JPMorgan said distressed Venezuela and PDVSA bonds—trading around 28–32 cents on the dollar—could pop on hopes of political change and eventual debt restructuring.

Related coverage: Brazil’s Morning Call | Venezuela’s Hardest Rebuild May Be Its Debt, Not Its Oil This is part of The Rio Times’ daily coverage of Venezuela affairs and Latin American financial news.

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