Venezuela’s Supreme Court on Saturday night directed Vice President Delcy Rodríguez to assume the role of interim leader following the seizure and evacuation of President Nicolás Maduro by United States forces.
The apex court ruled that Rodríguez should “assume and exercise, in an acting capacity, all the attributes, duties and powers inherent to the office of President to guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defence of the nation.”
The court ruling said that Rodríguez will assume “the office of President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in order to guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defense of the Nation.”
The ruling added that the court will debate the matter in order to “determine the applicable legal framework to guarantee the continuity of the State, the administration of government, and the defense of sovereignty in the face of the forced absence of the President of the Republic.”
The development comes as President Donald Trump announced that Washington would oversee Venezuelan affairs pending the organisation of a leadership transition.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
“So we don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years
However, Trump provided scant details on how the United States intends to “run” a sovereign nation whose vice president, legislature and military remain intact and openly resisting American intervention.
He mentioned deploying US oil companies to Venezuela, though he confirmed that his embargo “on all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect” whilst American forces would maintain vigilance.