In a stunning cascade of claims and counterclaims, President Donald Trump said the US attack on Venezuela has cleared the way for Washington to oversee the country’s governance until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” can be secured.
Speaking at a news conference, Trump said a “group of people” would temporarily run Venezuela. When pressed on who might comprise that group, he said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been in contact with Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s vice president under Nicolás Maduro.
Rodríguez at Center of Diplomatic Speculation
Rodríguez was the first senior Venezuelan official to speak publicly after the US strikes, urging Washington to provide proof of life for Maduro and his wife. Her message, delivered only in audio form, sparked immediate speculation that she may have fled the country.
Sources told Reuters she was in Russia, a claim swiftly rejected by Russia’s foreign minister as “fake.” Trump added fuel to the intrigue by saying Rodríguez had expressed willingness to do “whatever the US asks.”
That assertion surprised observers, as Rodríguez and her brother Jorge Rodríguez, head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, have long stood among Maduro’s fiercest defenders.
