US President Donald Trump announced that the US wanted to temporarily take power in the South American country. Vice President Rodríguez is ready to work together. “We just had a conversation with her and she is basically ready to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again, quite simply,” he said at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago residence. However, Rodríguez remained adamant after Trump’s comments. “There is only one president in this country and his name is Nicolás Maduro Moros,” she said, surrounded by ministers and military officials at a meeting of the National Defense Council.
Delcy Rodriguez.
Rodríguez announced determined resistance to the US attack. “We will never be slaves again.” She is considered one of the most loyal figures in Maduro’s power center. As Foreign Minister (2014-2017), the 56-year-old lawyer shaped the confrontational course against the USA, which she continued as Vice President. Her father was already a left-wing party official, and her brother Jorge Rodríguez also held a number of important positions in Maduro’s government. After the US military operation, she called for the immediate release of Maduro and his wife.
Venezuela’s constitution basically stipulates that if the head of state fails, Rodríguez will take over the reins of government until new elections are held.
After Maduro’s arrest, Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado called for opposition politician Edmundo González Urrutia to be appointed as his successor. He won the presidential election a year and a half ago and should now take up his constitutional office immediately, according to a message published by Machado on the X platform. (sda/dpa)