Presumed successor to Venezuela’s Maduro is in Russia, report says

The presumed successor to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is at the moment in Russia, a report stated on Saturday.

4 sources conversant in the actions of Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez confirmed her location to Reuters, though the news agency quoted The Russian International Ministry claimed the report was “faux.”

Earlier within the day, Rodriguez demanded in audio performed on Venezuelan state tv that the US present “proof of life” for Maduro and his spouse after President Donald Trump stated the couple had been captured throughout a US navy operation.

“We demand that President Donald Trump’s administration instantly present proof that President Maduro and the First Girl are alive,” Rodriguez stated, in line with Reuters.

LIVE UPDATES: VENEZUELA’S MADURO IS CAUGHT BY US

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is flanked by his spouse Cilia Flores, proper, and Delcy Rodriguez, left, in Caracas, Venezuela, Could 24, 2018. (Marco Bello/Reuters)

Trump later shared with Fact Social a photograph of Maduro being held down, blindfolded and holding a water bottle whereas carrying grey sweatpants and a sweatshirt aboard the USS Iwo Jima. Trump stated he could be taken to New York later.

Maduro beforehand served as vp of Venezuela earlier than coming to energy in 2013 after the loss of life of then-leader Hugo Chávez.

Jorge Rodriguez, Delcy’s brother and head of the Venezuelan Nationwide Meeting, stays in Caracas, three sources stated told Reuters.

When requested what Venezuela’s future holds now that Maduro is not within the nation, Trump stated in an interview on “Fox & Mates Weekend” that “we’re making that call now.”

REPUBLICANS ROSE BEHIND TRUMP AFTER US STRIKE VENEZUELA, MADURO ARRESTED: ‘CHANGED THE COURSE OF HISTORY’

President Donald Trump shared a photograph of captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima following assaults on Venezuela, on Saturday, January 3, 2026. (Fact Social/ @realDonaldTrump)

“We won’t take the danger of letting another person go and simply selecting up the place they left off. So we’re making that call now,” Trump advised Fox Information. “We will be very concerned, and we need to result in freedom for the folks. We need to, you already know, have an important relationship. I feel the folks of Venezuela are very, very comfortable as a result of they love the US. , they had been principally run by a dictatorship or worse.”

Trump later confirmed at a press convention at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Seaside, Florida, that the US would administer Venezuela on a brief foundation.

Maduro’s successors are more likely to be the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González. an professional stated Saturday.

Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez speaks to the media in Caracas, Venezuela, on March 10, 2025. (Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters)

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Jorge Jraissati, a Venezuelan who chairs the Financial Inclusion Group, advised Fox Information Digital that “Machado and Gonzalez would undertake a transitional authorities in Venezuela.

Rachel Wolf, Benjamin Weinthal and Efrat Lachter of Fox Information contributed to this report.