Rodriguez becomes interim president in Venezuela

Venezuela’s vice president and oil minister was formally sworn in on Monday as interim president, following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro in a US operation over the weekend.

“I swear by Commander Hugo Chavez,” Delcy Rodriguez said before Venezuela’s National Assembly in the capital Caracas, lamenting the seizure of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.

“I come with pain for the kidnapping of two heroes that we have as hostages in the United States of North America,” she said, referring to the president and first lady.

Maduro and Flores were captured in an early-morning operation on Saturday by US forces, subsequently flown out of the country and to New York, where they stood trial in an initial hearing over drug and weapons charges.

After Maduro’s capture, Venezuela’s Supreme Court directed Vice President Rodriguez to “immediately” assume the post of acting president.

US President Donald Trump has vowed to assert American control over the country for the time being, including by deploying US troops if necessary.