Caracas, Venezuela: In the wake of President Nicolás Maduro’s removal by United States forces, Venezuela’s Supreme Court has officially designated Vice President Delcy Rodriguez as the acting president, escalating the country’s political turmoil.
The court, in a decision announced late Saturday, stated that Maduro is in a “material and temporary impossibility to exercise his functions,” activating constitutional provisions that allow the vice president to assume executive powers during such a period.
During a televised session, Supreme Court Justice Tania D’Amelio read the ruling, confirming that Rodriguez will “assume and exercise, as acting president, all the powers, duties, and faculties inherent to the office of president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in order to guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defense of the nation.”
Venezuela’s constitution explicitly mandates that in cases where the president is unable to perform duties, authority is transferred to the vice president. The court’s ruling cited this provision as the legal basis for Rodriguez’s assumption of power.
As political authority shifted in Caracas, US authorities moved forward with plans to transfer Maduro to the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in New York City. The facility has long been criticized for overcrowding, staffing shortages, inmate violence, and failing infrastructure.
The Supreme Court’s decision marks a critical moment in Venezuela’s ongoing crisis, as Rodriguez takes the helm amid heightened tensions and an uncertain political future.
