In a dramatic turn of events that has reverberated across Latin America and beyond, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as acting president on Saturday, January 3, 2026, following the capture of longtime strongman Nicolas Maduro by United States forces. The operation, described by US officials as daring and sophisticated, marks a pivotal moment for Venezuela, a nation long beset by political turmoil, economic collapse, and international isolation.
According to Reuters, Rodriguez, a 56-year-old socialist and close Maduro ally, assumed the top office just hours after the US military apprehended Maduro, who now faces drug trafficking charges in American custody. The move set off a cascade of political maneuvering in Caracas, as well as a flurry of statements from Washington outlining the next steps for the crisis-stricken country.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking on Sunday, January 4, 2026, made clear that the United States would not recognize Rodriguez as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. “This is not about the legitimate president. We don’t believe that this regime in place is legitimate via an election,” Rubio told ABC’s “This Week,” as reported by ABC News. He emphasized that this view is shared by "60-something countries around the world." Rubio was adamant: “Ultimately, legitimacy for their system of government will come about through a period of transition and real elections.”
The US, along with a broad coalition of international partners, has long refused to recognize the results of Venezuela’s 2024 election, which saw Maduro claim victory amid widespread allegations of fraud and the barring of opposition candidates. The Trump administration’s position, as articulated by Rubio, is that the future of Venezuela must be determined by free and fair elections, not by the machinations of entrenched elites.
Rubio also detailed the central lever of US policy: an oil quarantine targeting Venezuela’s sanctioned shipments. In an interview on “Face the Nation,” he described the measure as “a tremendous amount of leverage,” noting that US naval forces—part of what he called “one of the largest naval deployments in modern history”—would continue to intercept vessels attempting to move sanctioned oil. “That remains in place, and that’s a tremendous amount of leverage that will continue to be in place until we see changes, not just to further the national interest of the United States, which is No. 1, but also that lead to a better future for the people of Venezuela,” Rubio said, as reported by CBS News.
The oil quarantine is designed not only to squeeze the ruling regime but also to force open Venezuela’s state-controlled oil sector to foreign investment, with an eye toward benefiting the Venezuelan people and, not incidentally, US companies. Rubio insisted that the oil industry, "completely destroyed" after years of mismanagement, must be rebuilt to serve the nation’s citizens rather than a corrupt elite.
Rodriguez’s ascent to the presidency is not without controversy. Described by former colleagues and US officials as “ruthlessly ambitious” and Machiavellian, she has long been a fixture of Venezuela’s socialist establishment and maintains deep ties to Cuba’s intelligence apparatus. Her brother, Jorge Rodriguez, presides over the country’s congress, further cementing the family’s influence. The Wall Street Journal quoted experts who suggested that Rodriguez was seen by some in Washington as a potential figure to stabilize the country and increase oil production, even under sanctions. However, her public reaffirmation of loyalty to Maduro following his capture drew a sharp warning from President Trump: “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” as reported by The Atlantic.
Despite Rodriguez’s new position, Maduro’s loyalists—known as Chavistas, after the late President Hugo Chávez—retain significant power. Figures such as Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López continue to control key levers of the state, including the military and intelligence agencies. As Alex Plistsas, a former senior US intelligence official, told The Post, “It doesn’t appear that the strikes weaken the power structure of any of the existing institutions, meaning any of the cabinet departments or agencies that would report to the president, including the security services in the military.”
The opposition, meanwhile, faces daunting obstacles. María Corina Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and prominent opposition leader, was barred from running in the 2024 election and fled Venezuela in December 2025. Her replacement, Edmundo González, also fled, this time to Spain, after an election widely viewed as neither free nor fair. Nevertheless, many in the opposition and international community see Machado as possessing the legitimacy needed for leadership, despite her exclusion from the ballot. Ryan Berg of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told The Post, “She has all the legitimacy that she needs to be a leader within Venezuela, understanding she wasn’t elected in the last election because she was barred from running.”
Rubio, for his part, has declined to endorse any specific opposition figure, focusing instead on the need for real elections and structural change. He underscored that the US would make its assessment of Venezuela’s interim leadership “on the basis of what they do, not what they say publicly in the interim.” Should Rodriguez or any successor fail to enact meaningful reforms—ending drug trafficking, dismantling criminal gangs, and cutting ties with groups like Hezbollah and Iran—the oil quarantine and other forms of US pressure will remain firmly in place.
The shockwaves from Maduro’s fall extend far beyond Venezuela. Under Chávez and Maduro, Caracas forged deep alliances with Cuba, Iran, Russia, China, and Hezbollah, leveraging its vast oil and mineral wealth to build an anti-Western bloc. Rubio and Trump have both warned that Havana, long dependent on Venezuelan support, now faces increased vulnerability. “If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned,” Rubio remarked on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Similar warnings have been issued to Tehran, particularly as Iran grapples with domestic unrest and economic woes. The ripple effect has also unsettled Beijing and Moscow, which have invested heavily in Venezuela and now find themselves further isolated amid their own regional conflicts. China, in particular, stands to lose billions in arms sales and loans extended to Caracas over the past two decades, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Despite the high stakes and the massive US military presence in the Caribbean, Rubio has sought to distinguish the current operation from past American interventions in the Middle East. “The whole, you know, foreign policy apparatus thinks everything is Libya, everything is Iraq, everything is Afghanistan. This is not the Middle East,” he said on “Face the Nation.” “Our mission here is very different,” he added, emphasizing that the goal is to end the Maduro regime and foster a democratic transition—not to occupy or govern Venezuela directly.
As the dust settles in Caracas, the path forward remains fraught with uncertainty. With Maduro in US custody, Rodriguez in the presidential palace, and a fractured opposition seeking a foothold, Venezuela stands at a crossroads. The coming weeks will test whether the promise of free elections and a new beginning can overcome the entrenched interests and deep divisions that have plagued the nation for years.
For now, one thing is clear: the eyes of the world are fixed on Venezuela, and the consequences of this moment will be felt far beyond its borders.
