US-Venezuela Political Dynamics Amid Maduro's Detention
Former US President Donald Trump stated that Nicolás Maduro was in custody and that the United States planned to oversee Venezuela through a safe, proper transition. Marco Rubio reportedly engaged in talks with Delcy Rodríguez, who was described as essentially willing to cooperate with US objectives. However, Rodríguez later denounced Maduro's detention as a kidnapping and maintained that Maduro remains Venezuela’s legitimate president.
According to Venezuela's constitution, the vice-president acts as president in certain circumstances. The Supreme Court ruled Rodríguez as the acting president, although many countries did not recognize Maduro's legitimacy. Maduro was declared president by the electoral council (CNE), yet detailed voting tallies were not published. Independent tallies from the Carter Center suggested opposition candidate Edmundo González won by a landslide. González, who enjoyed the backing of opposition figure María Corina Machado—herself barred from running—later went into exile after the election. Machado's Nobel Peace Prize has notably boosted her profile, with her posting a message proclaiming the hour of freedom had arrived.
Photographs of Rodríguez and Maduro’s inner circle, including Jorge Rodríguez, Diosdado Cabello, Vladimir Padrino, and Domingo Hernández Lárez, signaled continued support for Maduro loyalists. In the short term, Rodríguez and Maduro's inner circle appear to govern conditional on meeting US expectations, leveraging measures such as an oil quarantine to influence their decisions.
