Name: Who is running Venezuela now that Maduro is gone ... and for how long | DW News
Uploaded: 2026-01-04T16:56:02.000Z
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Meanwhile, the streets of Caracas were largely deserted in the aftermath of Maduro's seizure, which has thrown the country into uncertainty.

Many say the US Strikes came as a surprise and they're not sure what Maduro's capture means for their future.

Let's bring in journalist Noris Soto, who joins us from Caracas.

It's been a quite a day, but that day is now over.

Since Maduro's capture, has the first shock worn off in Venezuela?

Well, it's really early in the morning in Venezuela.

I mean, you see images of other countries, Venezuelans in other countries celebrating these, this event that happened yesterday.

But it contrasts a lot with what's happening here in Caracas.

Streets are empty and you cannot hear celebrations, but neither you can see riots or protest.

Big protests against this decision from the U.S.

also, you can see a little group of people gathering around Miraflores palace, which is, you know, the presidential palace.

But it's a small group of supporters of Maduro who are demanding him to him for him to be brought back to Venezuela.

There's nothing more happening in Caracas at the moment.

On Saturday, we saw small protests from Maduro supporters in Caracas.

Do you expect much resistance from them beyond that small gathering that you were mentioning?

I think that people are still expecting to see how these transition, controlled by the US and led by Dulce Rodriguez, will unfold in the coming days.

I see people trying to resume their daily life as soon as possible because we are in a very, very complicated economic situation.

We're facing 600% of inflation and a salary that goes lower than $3 per month.

So people would try to resume their life to go to work and to, you know, make ends meet.

But I don't see people on the streets rioting or protesting or neither people trying to celebrate anything.

This is all very new and this is an event that will unfold in the coming days, weeks and months even.

Trump has said that he's not afraid of American troops on the ground in Venezuela.

Well, like I said, there's a lot of confusion towards how Trump will manage this situation with we don't know if it's going to be troops in the daily life per se, like walking on the street and finding a Marine, a U.S.

We don't know exactly what he meant yesterday.

I think that he has much clearing to do before this starts to develop or we start even to explain it.

Venezuela's Supreme Court appointed Vice President Delsey Rodriguez as acting president.

How are you and other Venezuelans processing that, along with Trump's announcement that Washington will run the country?

Well, from what I've been able to talk to people to hear is that there are still fears that nothing's going to change, that Chabismo will stay in power.

But now led by Delta Rodriguez, we need to clarify one thing.

She took power, but not under the image of a complete lack of the presidency, but

as a temporary lack of the president, meaning that she can stay after the 90 days that the constitution, that the Venezuelan constitution states she can renew these powers as long as she wants approved by the National Assembly.

So this means that she could stay before those 90 days without calling necessarily to new elections.

I mean, if you see it in a way, it could mean that she could stay over a year or more in power as long as the US Acts and as long as she is able to negotiate with them.

Journalist Noor Soto, thank you very much.

For more, I'm now joined by Jesus Renzullo.

He is a Latin American expert and research fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies.

Venezuela Supreme Court appointed the Vice President Delsey Rodriguez as acting president.

What does that mean for the country now in this situation?

It was the logical transition, considering the hints that the United States government and the current configuration of power in Venezuela was.

It basically means that the US does believe that the countries could go into instability if they do not maintain some of the current structure in place.

It is also likely that there was some cooperation between the political elite in Caracas in order to take down Maduro.

Now, it basically means that the United States government will be, at least in the short term, collaborating with the Rodriguez brothers with the political lead in Caracas to at least stabilize the country and make sure that it doesn't go into further crisis.

Now, that's interesting because there was always this talk about a regime change, and

keeping part of the regime in place somehow doesn't seem to fit.

Also, Delsey Rodriguez came out in a statement during her press conferen saying that only Maduro's is the only legitimate president.

So do you see a scenario where Delsey Rodriguez actually cooperates with Trump during the transitional period?

Yes, there is the talk about regime change.

We need to take into account there's a difference between regime change and change in the regime.

The United States strategy was not necessarily to overthrow the full Venezuelan government.

It was there was a special operation to attack Maduro, to target Maduro.

And in fact, the indictment in New York shows that not all of the elite was targeted.

The Venezuelan regime is transaction, transactional by nature.

They want to maintain power and that is their key and most important request.

If the United States threatens that stability or threatens their power, they would do whatever the United States requests.

That is the most logical action for the Korean League.

Now, what does the mean the discourse of the speech of Delsey?

Basically they are trying to not betray their own narrative while still through action cooperating with the United States.

If things don't work out according to plan from the US perspective, Trump has already said that he is not afraid of American troops on the ground in Venezuela.

It is unlikely that there would be some level of rebellion from the current political elite to the United States requests or demands because as I said before, their main request is survival and maintain power.

But in the case, let's say that the factions in the elite decide to rebel and US intervention, at least in Venezuela, at least inside the people, the logic of the people of Venezuela is not seen as a catastrophe.

We need to take into account that the Venezuelan population has been requesting liberation or freedom for years.

In many ways, many of the population, most of the population had lost hope of an internal level transition and they have been requesting external support from that kind of action.

Now, does that mean that it would be a positive action and a US Active intervention?

Not necessarily, but it doesn't mean that the population is actively against that.

Particularly if we talk about the diaspora, the diaspora is particularly supportive of that.

Okay, Jesus, a very short answer, if you could.

Donald Trump already somewhat dismissed the opposition leader Maria Corinna Machado as a possible replacement.

And the current government is an interim regime, if you like.

So who is going to run Venezuela in the long run?

On the short run, it's going to be the Rodriguez brothers.

But Maria Corina Machado could recover some level of support from the United States as long as she plays her cards well.

The future of the spot will probably have to leave it at that.

So that question is still up in the air there, but

research Fellow Giga Institute for Latin American Studies in Berlin thank you so much for that.