Venezuelan acting President Delcy RodrĂguez being sworn in by National Assembly President Jorge RodrĂguez in Caracas on Monday, Jan. 5, 2025. Photo: Venezuelan Presidential Press.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—On Monday, the newly appointed board of directors of Venezuela’s National Assembly swore in Delcy RodrĂguez as acting president of Venezuela in a ceremony held in Caracas. During the event, Delcy RodrĂguez stated: “I come here as President Nicolás Maduro’s vice president, with sorrow for the suffering inflicted upon the people but with honor to guarantee the peace of the nation.”
RodrĂguez assumes the temporary role following a January 3 ruling by the Venezuelan Supreme Court. The court appointed her to the position while evaluating Articles 234 and 239 of the Constitution regarding presidential succession under the extraordinary circumstances of President Maduro’s absence—situations never contemplated during the document’s drafting. Legal experts claim the court’s decision temporarily withholds the call for presidential elections.
The appointment occurred amid widespread outrage sparked by the US attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The Venezuelan National Assembly, featuring newly elected deputies for the 2026–2031 constitutional legislative period, approved the appointment of Deputy Jorge RodrĂguez as president of its board of directors by an overwhelming majority.
During the parliamentary session, Deputy Nicolás Maduro Guerra, son of President Nicolás Maduro, delivered a powerful and heartfelt speech. He stated that the historical and sovereign identity of the Venezuelan people will prevail against external aggression, adding, “If the United States government is Monroe, we are SimĂłn BolĂvar,” while reiterating that his father is a prisoner of war.
Delcy RodrĂguez is the first woman in Venezuelan history to head the executive branch. She noted that in these “terrible hours of threats against stability,” she will not rest “for a minute to guarantee peace.” She added, “This is a historic commitment that I undertake with the certainty that national unity and the strength of the organized people will be the guarantee of our sovereignty.”
The acting president also stated she will not rest “to see Venezuela in the destiny that corresponds to it and on the pedestal of historical honor that corresponds to it as a free, sovereign, and independent nation,” and pledged to “guarantee a government that delivers social happiness, political stability, and political security.”
First cabinet meeting
On Sunday night, RodrĂguez presided over her first cabinet meeting. She appointed a commission, chaired by National Assembly President Jorge RodrĂguez and including Nicolás Maduro Guerra, to work toward the release of President Maduro and his wife from the US.
At 10:20 p.m., Communication Minister Freddy Ñáñez reported on the meeting’s results during a national radio and television broadcast. He noted that the acting president created two specific commissions:
• High-Level Commission for the Release of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady and First Combatant Cilia Flores: Chaired by Jorge RodrĂguez, Yván Gil, Camilla Fabri, and Freddy Ñáñez.
• Commission of the Agro-Food, Industrial and Communal General Staff: Tasked with guaranteeing and strengthening food sovereignty projects and national supply chains.
Ñáñez noted that the acting president visited those injured in the fighting during the January 3 US attack. He described them as “brave and heroic soldiers who put their chests on the line to defend our sovereignty and our President Nicolás Maduro,” though he provided no official details regarding the total number of victims or injuries resulting from the US military attack.
He also reported that the nation remains at absolute peace and under the protection of government institutions. He praised the Venezuelan people for their fortitude and dignity, stating they “contribute a grain of peace and reconciliation to this difficult situation through their behavior and maturity.”
Message to the United States and the world
Following the Council of Ministers meeting, the acting president published a message on social media, reproduced below:
A message from Venezuela to the world, and to the United States:
Venezuela reaffirms its commitment to peace and peaceful coexistence. Our country aspires to live without external threats, in an environment of respect and international cooperation. We believe that global peace is built by first guaranteeing peace within each nation.
We prioritize moving towards balanced and respectful international relations between the United States and Venezuela, and between Venezuela and other countries in the region, premised on sovereign equality and non-interference. These principles guide our diplomacy with the rest of the world.
We invite the US government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistence.
President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war. This has always been President Nicolás Maduro’s message, and it is the message of all of Venezuela right now. This is the Venezuela I believe in and have dedicated my life to. I dream of a Venezuela where all good Venezuelans can come together.
Venezuela has the right to peace, development, sovereignty, and a future.
Delcy RodrĂguez Acting President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
The message underscores the same calls made on several occasions by President Nicolás Maduro and President Hugo Chávez before him. However, according to analysts, US imperialism has repeatedly discarded those calls for peaceful dialogue and coexistence under the principles of sovereignty and independence.
Swearing-in oath
“I come here as executive vice president to the constitutional president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros, to take the oath of office. I come with sorrow for the suffering inflicted upon the Venezuelan people following an illegitimate military aggression against our homeland.
I come with sorrow for the kidnapping of two heroes we have as hostages in the United States, President Nicolás Maduro and the first lady of this country, Cilia Flores.
I come with sorrow, but I must say that I also come with honor to swear, in the name of all Venezuelans, by our liberator father SimĂłn BolĂvar, who is a guide and historical beacon for the future of Venezuela, whose liberating blood runs through the veins of Venezuelans.
I swear by Commander Hugo Chávez, who gave life to millions of Venezuelans and restored their dignity as citizens.
I swear by Jorge Antonio RodrĂguez, and in his gaze, I swear by the children of Venezuela, by the girls of Venezuela, and by our youth, to guarantee a future for our children.
I swear by my mother, by my brother Jorge, by my nephews, and by my family.
I swear on my honor that I will not rest my arm nor my soul until I see Venezuela in the destiny that corresponds to it, on the pedestal of historical honor that corresponds to it as a free, sovereign, and independent nation.
I swear by the people of Venezuela to not rest for a minute to guarantee the peace of the republic, the spiritual tranquility of our people, and the economic and social tranquility of our people.
And I swear, then, on the basis of our liberator father in his speech in Angostura, to guarantee a government that brings social happiness, political stability, and political security.
I swear by BolĂvar, I swear by our liberators, and I swear by our brothers and sisters who accompany us and must join together as one people, from all political sectors of Venezuela, from all social and economic sectors, that we swear as one country to move Venezuela forward in these terrible hours of threat against the stability and peace of the nation, I swear.”
Political and diplomatic context
The swearing-in ceremony follows the events of the early morning of January 3, when US military forces violated Venezuela’s sovereignty and international order, kidnapping President Nicolás Maduro and killing dozens of military personnel. In this scenario, the National Assembly invested RodrĂguez as acting president following the mandate established by the country’s highest court, paying the corresponding honors and reaffirming the institutional continuity of the Venezuelan state.
Cuba Reports 32 Military Deaths in US Operation in Venezuela
In an interview with The Atlantic on Sunday, US President Donald Trump said that if Delcy RodrĂguez “doesn’t do the right thing, she will pay a very high price, probably higher than [Nicolás] Maduro,” referring to the president of the Bolivarian Republic. Trump also made it clear that he would not tolerate what he described as the acting president’s “defiant rejection” of Washington’s armed intervention.
RodrĂguez, for her part, strongly rejected the US military attack on Venezuelan soil on Saturday, demanding the immediate release of President Maduro and his wife, and affirmed that Maduro remains the legitimate president.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SL
