Delcy Rodríguez is due to be sworn in later as Venezuela’s president, hours after Donald Trump warned her she could pay a “very big price” if she “doesn’t do what’s right”.
In comments to the Atlantic on Sunday, the US president said: “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.”
He added that for Venezuela: “Regime change, anything you want to call it, is better than what you have right now. Can’t get any worse”.
Trump has vowed the US will run the country until “a safe and proper and judicious transition” is possible. He also promised US oil companies will move into the country to fix infrastructure “and start making money for the country”.
For context: Venezuela’s Supreme Court officially designated Rodríguez as interim president over the weekend, but today she will appear before the National Assembly where she will be officially sworn in.
Who is Delcy Rodriguez – Venezuela’s new acting president
Delcy Rodríguez – now Venezuela’s acting president – is a loyal lieutenant of Maduro, often appearing at events side-by-side with the president and his wife.
A lawyer and diplomat, she has held various political offices under Maduro.
As his vice-president, Rodriguez, 56, was part of his inner circle – describing him as the “only president” while demanding his release.
On Saturday, Donald Trump said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been talking to Rodríguez, who had expressed her willingness to do “whatever the US asks”.
This was at odds withRodríguez publicly refusing that Venezuela would become “a colony of an empire”.
But at her first cabinet meeting on Sunday she struck a more conciliatory tone, calling for the US to collaborate with Venezuela.
Venezuelans are ‘very quiet because people are scared’
“Being a Venezuelan at the moment is very hard and strange,” one Venezuelan living in the UK tells BBC Radio 5 Live.
Sofia (not her real name) says she feels “happy, excited, scared, emotional and angry” since Maduro was seized – but feels like people in the country can’t “freely voice our feelings about what has happened.”
She frequently returns to the country on business or to visit family and says the people in Venezuela are “very quiet” because they are scared.
For Sofia, she doesn’t want America to rule over her country, but she thinks the US took a “corrupt person in a country that has no democracy.”
Why has the US attacked Venezuela and seized Maduro?
Donald Trump blames Nicolás Maduro for the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants in the US.
Without providing evidence, he has accused Maduro of “emptying his prisons and insane asylums” and “forcing” its inmates to migrate to the US.
But Trump has also focused on fighting the influx of drugs – especially fentanyl and cocaine – into the US.
Two Venezuelan criminal groups – Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles – have been designated as Foreign Terrorist Organisations and Trump alleges the latter is led by Maduro himself.
Analysts have pointed out that Cartel de los Soles is not a hierarchical group but a term used to describe corrupt officials who have allowed cocaine to transit through Venezuela.
Maduro has vehemently denied being a cartel leader and has accused the US of using its “war on drugs” as an excuse to try to depose him and get its hands on Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Iran and China call for Maduro’s immediate release
More international reaction now, as both China and Iran – who are allies of Venezuela – call for the release of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
China’s foreign ministry says the US’s actions are “a clear violation of international law and basic norms governing international relations” and that it is monitoring the security situation in Venezuela closely.
It also calls on Washington to “cease efforts to subvert the Venezuelan government and resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation”. The ministry made similar calls at the weekend.
Iran, a close ally of Venezuela, says the pair were abducted.
“It’s nothing to be proud of; it’s an illegal act,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei says, according to AFP.
“As the Venezuelan people have emphasised, their president must be released.”
Iran has also been threatened by Donald Trump in the last week, with the president warning the US would intervene if peaceful protesters are killed.
Several deaths have been reported and his words were described as “reckless and dangerous” by Iran’s foreign minister.
US military action in Venezuela ‘breaches international law’ – Labour MP
In the UK Dame Emily Thornberry is the most senior Labour MP so far to criticise Donald Trump’s strikes on the country over the weekend, describing them as “unacceptable” and a breach of international law.
The chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee told the BBC the strikes were “not a legal action” and she “cannot think of anything that could be a proper justification”.
She said the UK and its allies should collectively say “we cannot have breaches of international law like this. We cannot have the law of the jungle.”
She added: “We condemn Putin for doing it. We need to make clear that Donald Trump shouldn’t be doing it either.”
The UK government has so far refused to say whether the move was illegal, insisting it is for the Americans to lay out the legal basis for the action, though Donald Trump has been criticised by some Labour MPs, as well as the leaders of the Lib Dems, Greens and the SNP.
Earlier, government minister Mike Tapp told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme Maduro was an “evil dictator” and Venezuela was safer now he was no longer in charge.
Tapp denied Sir Keir Starmer was frightened of upsetting Trump and the UK was in contact with both the US and other allies over the matter.
What are we expecting to happen today?
It’s been three days Maduro was seized by US forces and taken to New York to face drugs and weapons charges. The situation is still moving – here’s some of what we’re expecting today.
At 12:00 GMT, Delcy Rodriguez is set to be officially sworn in as Venezuela’s president at the National Assembly. The Supreme Court designated her as interim president over the weekend as the country reeled from the US operation.
This afternoon, we’re expecting a UN Security Council meeting where the situation will be discussed.
At around 16:00, it’s expected that the UK’s foreign secretary will make a statement on the matter.
Then, at 17:00 (12:00 EST), Nicolás Maduro is expected to appear in court in New York.
Maduro’s exit ‘opens a new chapter of hope for Venezuela’ – Italian PM
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says she spoke by phone with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Sunday.
Both agreed that the exit of President Nicolas Maduro would create prospects for a peaceful and democratic transition.
“During the phone call, it was agreed that Maduro’s exit opens a new chapter of hope for the people of Venezuela, who will be able to once again enjoy the basic principles of democracy and the rule of law,” Meloni’s office said in a statement.
Former Trump official questions how US will ‘manage next few days’
A member of the first Trump administration says he has not seen “any plans as to how we expect to manage the next few days”.
Robert Wilkie, who served as under secretary of defence for readiness, tells BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the operation to seize Maduro was “flawless” in military terms, but his concern in such missions is “What is the next day?”
He cites Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan as examples of “American overreach”.
“Once you launch that, what happens next? We don’t have a very good track record when it comes to those things.”
But he also says he believes US authorities have discussed plans for a stabilisation force in Venezuela with its military.
Wilkie stresses the operation was “certainly” legal under American law “because [Maduro] is an illegitimate leader”.
“The indictment… gives the president incredible leeway to conduct operations, to remove a criminal and international threat to the people of the US.”
Cuba mourns 32 of its citizens killed defending Maduro
Cuba has confirmed 32 of its citizens were killed during the US operation to seize Nicolás Maduro.
The communist-run country – which relies on Venezuelan oil – had supplied much of Maduro’s security detail and has personnel throughout the Venezuelan military.
Two days of national morning have been declared with Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel saying he honoured “the brave Cuban combatants who fell taking on the terrorists in imperial uniforms who kidnapped and illegally removed the Venezuelan president and his wife from their country.”
Asked about wider military action, Donald Trump said it wouldn’t be needed against Cuba as it was likely to fall on its own.
But he didn’t rule out intervention in Colombia, describing its left-wing president Gustavo Petro as a drug trafficker and a “sick man”.
Petro has denied the accusations, warning Trump not to slander him.
SOURCE: BBC NEWS
