Venezuela after Maduro: Delcy Rodriguez sworn in as president after she offers to ‘collaborate’ with Trump

Hours after offering to “collaborate” with US President Donald Trump, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was on Monday sworn in as the country’s interim leader. The military has backed her and the Supreme Court has endorsed the swearing-in.

Despite her offer to collaborate with the Trump administration, Rodriguez condemned the US invasion and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

Rodriguez said she was “in pain over the kidnapping of our heroes, the hostages in the United States”. She maintained that Maduro was the “only” president and that she was merely an interim leader in his absence.

Rodriguez took the oath as Venezuela’s interim leader in front of Jorge Rodriguez, her brother and President of the National Assembly, and Deputy Nicolas Maduro Guerra during a session of the National Assembly. The parliament that swore her in denounced Maduro’s capture while vowing to support her.

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Essentially, Venezuela’s control now rests with the Rodriguez siblings with Delcy controlling the executive branch and Jorge controlling the legislature.

Independent observers have said that the way the Venezuelan military stayed out of any confrontation with invading US forces and allowed them to whisk away Maduro suggests that elements of the Venezuelan government involving Rodriguez and sections of the military had reached a secret deal with the Trump administration. Last year, the Rodriguez siblings had indeed held secret negotiations with the administration through Arab mediators.

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Earlier in the day, Rodriguez had struck a conciliatory tone in an outreach to Trump.

Rodriguez had said that she believed in prioritising “balanced and respectful international relations between the United States and Venezuela” that rested on sovereign equality and non-interference.

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Rodriguez invited Trump “to collaborate with us on an agenda of co-operation orientated towards shared development within the framework of international law”.

Rodriguez further said: “President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war. This has always been President Nicolás Maduro’s message, and it is the message of all of Venezuela right now. This is the Venezuela I believe in and have dedicated my life to. I dream of a Venezuela where all good Venezuelans can come together.”