Venezuela's Interim Leader Defies Trump and Calls Maduro the 'Only President' [View all]

Source: NY Times

President Trump said Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president and would act as a partner in letting the United States run the country.

Less than two hours later, Ms. Rodríguez — who was Nicolás Maduro’s vice president — delivered a televised address to Venezuela that made clear she viewed the United States as an illegal invader that must be rejected.

“We are determined to be free,” she said. “What is being done to Venezuela is a barbarity.”

Her swift defiance of Mr. Trump made clear that his plans to swoop into the South American nation and run it as his own faced many more hurdles than he suggested in his Saturday news conference declaring victory in Venezuela.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/world/americas/delcy-rodriguez-maduro-only-president.html