The vice president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, was sworn in this Monday as president in charge of the country, before the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, deputy Cilia Flores, in the midst of a US military attack on Venezuelan territory.
“I come with pain for the kidnapping of two heroes that we hold hostage in the United States,” Rodríguez said in his swearing-in. “I also come with honor to swear in the name of all Venezuelans.”
His brother, Jorge Rodríguez -president of the National Assembly-, was in charge of directing the investiture ceremony. During the event, Maduro’s son, also deputy Nicolás Maduro Guerra, held the Constitution on which the new interim president was sworn in.
In his speech, Rodríguez stated that he takes office in “terrible hours of threat to the stability and peace of the nation.” At the end of the ceremony, military personnel honored him, after the National Armed Forces recognized his designation on Sunday.
Trump’s warning to Delcy Rodríguez
Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Representative Cilia Flores, were detained on January 3 by United States military personnel in the midst of a bombing of Caracas. Both face charges of drug trafficking and terrorism, to which they pleaded “not guilty” this Monday before a court in New York.
After the arrest, the Supreme Court of Venezuela ordered Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assume the presidency on an interim basis for a period of 90 days, extendable.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump demanded Rodríguez “full access” to Venezuela in terms of natural and other resources, while revealing that he is considering reopening the US embassy in Caracas.
In an interview this Sunday with the weekly TI AtlanticTrump said that if Rodríguez “does not do the right thing” a “worse” future awaits him than Maduro’s.
