Venezuelans wonder who's in charge as Trump claims contact with Maduro's deputy

Uncertainty gripped Venezuela connected Saturday arsenic radical scrambled to recognize who was successful complaint of the South American state aft a U.S. subject cognition captured President Nicolás Maduro.

"What volition hap tomorrow? What volition hap successful the adjacent hour? Nobody knows," Caracas nonmigratory Juan Pablo Petrone said.

President Donald Trump delivered a shocking pick for who would instrumentality control: The United States, possibly successful coordination with 1 of Maduro's astir trusted aides.

Delcy Rodríguez has served arsenic Maduro's vice president since 2018, overseeing overmuch of Venezuela's oil-dependent system and its feared quality service. But she is idiosyncratic the Trump medication seemingly is consenting to enactment with, astatine slightest for now.

"She's fundamentally consenting to bash what we deliberation is indispensable to marque Venezuela large again," Trump told reporters of Rodríguez, who faced U.S. sanctions during Trump's archetypal medication for her relation successful undermining Venezuelan democracy.

Long lines coiled done supermarkets and extracurricular state stations arsenic Venezuelans, agelong utilized to crises, stocked up erstwhile again. Small pro-government rallies broke retired successful parts of Caracas, but astir streets remained bare successful the federation of 29 cardinal people.

In a large snub, Trump said absorption person Maria Corina Machado, who was awarded past year's Nobel Peace Prize, didn't person the enactment to tally the country.

Trump said Rodríguez had a agelong speech with Secretary of State Marco Rubio successful which Trump claimed she said, "'We'll bash immoderate you need.'"

"I deliberation she was rather gracious," Trump added. "We can't instrumentality a accidental that idiosyncratic other takes implicit Venezuela that doesn't person the bully of the Venezuelan radical successful mind."

Rodríguez tried to task spot and unity among the ruling party's galore factions, downplaying immoderate hint of betrayal. In remarks connected authorities TV, she demanded the contiguous merchandise of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and denounced the U.S. cognition arsenic a flagrant usurpation of the United Nations charter.

"There is lone 1 president successful this country, and his sanction is Nicolás Maduro," Rodríguez said, surrounded by apical civilian officials and subject commanders.

There was nary contiguous motion that the U.S. was moving Venezuela.

Trump indicated that Rodríguez had been sworn successful already arsenic president of Venezuela, per the transportation of powerfulness outlined successful the constitution. However, authorities tv has not broadcast immoderate swearing-in ceremony.

In her televised address, Rodríguez did not state herself acting president oregon notation a governmental transition. A ticker astatine the bottommost of the surface identified her arsenic the vice president. She gave nary motion that she would beryllium cooperating with the U.S.

"What is being done to Venezuela is an atrocity that violates planetary law," she said. "History and justness volition marque the extremists who promoted this equipped aggression pay."

The Venezuelan constitution besides said a caller predetermination indispensable beryllium called wrong a period successful the lawsuit of the president's absence. But experts person been debating whether the succession script would use here, fixed the government's deficiency of fashionable legitimacy and the bonzer U.S. subject intervention.

Venezuelan subject officials were speedy to task defiance successful video messages.

"They person attacked america but volition not interruption us," said Defense Minister Gen. Vladimir Padrino López, dressed successful fatigues.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello appeared connected authorities TV successful a helmet and flak jacket, urging Venezuelans to "trust successful the governmental enactment and military" and "get retired connected the streets" to support the country's sovereignty.

"These rats attacked and they volition regret what they did," helium said of the U.S.

Caracas residents similar Yanire Lucas were near picking up shattered solid and different debris aft an early-morning detonation successful a subject basal adjacent to her house.

"What is happening is unprecedented," Lucas said, adding that her household is frightened to permission home. "We're inactive connected edge, and present we're uncertain astir what to do."

A lawyer educated successful Britain and France, Rodríguez has a agelong past of representing the gyration started by the precocious Hugo Chávez connected the satellite stage.

She and her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, caput of the Maduro-controlled National Assembly, person beardown leftist credentials calved from tragedy. Their begetter was a socialist person who died successful constabulary custody successful the 1970s, a transgression that shook galore activists of the era, including a young Maduro.

Unlike galore successful Maduro's interior circle, the Rodríguez siblings person avoided transgression indictment successful the U.S. Delcy Rodríguez has developed beardown ties with Republicans successful the lipid manufacture and connected Wall Street who balked astatine the conception of U.S.-led authorities change.

Among her past interlocutors was Blackwater laminitis Erik Prince and, much recently, Richard Grenell, a Trump peculiar envoy who tried to negociate a woody with Maduro for greater U.S. power successful Venezuela.

Fluent successful English, Rodríguez is sometimes portrayed arsenic a well-educated mean successful opposition to the subject hardliners who took up arms with Chávez against Venezuela's democratically elected president successful the 1990s.

Many of them, particularly Cabello, are wanted successful the U.S. connected cause trafficking charges and basal accused of superior quality rights abuses. But they proceed to clasp sway implicit the equipped forces, the accepted arbiter of governmental disputes successful Venezuela.

That presents large challenges to Rodríguez successful asserting authority. But experts accidental that Venezuela's powerfulness brokers person agelong had a wont of closing ranks down their leaders.

"These leaders person each seen the worth of staying united. Cabello has ever taken a 2nd spot oregon 3rd seat, knowing that his destiny is tied up with Maduro's, and present helium precise good mightiness bash that again," said David Smilde, a sociology prof astatine Tulane University who has conducted probe into Venezuela's governmental dynamics implicit the past 3 decades.

"A batch depends connected what happened past night, which officials were taken out, what the authorities of the subject looks similar now," Smilde said. "If it doesn't person overmuch firepower anymore, they're much susceptible and diminished and it volition beryllium easier for her to summation control."

Shortly earlier Trump's property conference, Machado, the absorption leader, called connected her state Edmundo González — a retired diplomat wide considered to person won the country's disputed 2024 statesmanlike predetermination — to "immediately presume his law mandate and beryllium recognized arsenic commander-in-chief."

In a triumphant statement, Machado promised that her question would "restore order, escaped governmental prisoners, physique an exceptional country, and bring our children backmost home."

She added: "Today we are prepared to asseverate our mandate and instrumentality power."

Asked astir Machado, Trump was blunt: "I deliberation it would beryllium precise pugnacious for (Machado) to beryllium the leader," helium said.

"She doesn't person the enactment oregon respect wrong the country."

Venezuelans expressed shock, with galore speculating connected societal media that Trump had mixed up the 2 women's names. Machado has not responded to Trump's remarks.