Venezuela’s Supreme Court late on Saturday ordered Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez to assume interim leadership of the country following the seizure and removal of President Nicolas Maduro by the United States.
In its ruling, the court directed Rodríguez to “assume and exercise, in an acting capacity, all the attributes, duties and powers inherent to the office of President,” citing the need to ensure administrative continuity and the comprehensive defence of the nation.
The court said it would further deliberate on the situation to “determine the applicable legal framework to guarantee the continuity of the State, the administration of government, and the defence of sovereignty” in light of what it described as the “forced absence” of the president.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said Washington would effectively administer Venezuela until a leadership transition could be organised.
“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. “We don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in and end up with the same situation we’ve had for many years.”
Trump provided few details on how the United States would govern a sovereign nation where the vice-president, legislature, and military remain intact and have publicly opposed US actions. He said the plan would involve deploying major US oil companies to repair Venezuela’s damaged energy infrastructure, even as he maintained that Washington’s embargo on Venezuelan oil remains in force.
“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” Trump said, adding that US forces would remain on high alert.
A plane carrying Maduro landed shortly before 5:00 p.m. local time at Stewart International Airport in New York, from where he is expected to be transported to New York City, according to a source familiar with the matter who requested anonymity.
Trump said the intervention would be carried out “with a group” largely made up of senior US officials, stressing that efforts would focus on restoring oil infrastructure while ensuring that the Venezuelan people “are also taken care of.”
AFP
