Maduro’s presumed successor, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, is possibly in Russia: report

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The presumed successor to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is currentlyin Russia,a report said Saturday.

Four sources familiar with the movements of Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez confirmed her location to Reuters, although thenews agency citedRussia’s foreign ministry as claiming the report was “fake.”

Earlier in the day, Rodriguez demanded in audio played on Venezuelan state TV that the U.S.provide “proof of life” for Maduro and his wife after PresidentDonald Trumpsaid the pair had been captured in aU.S.military operation.

“We demand that President Donald Trump’s government provide immediate proof of life for President Maduro and the First Lady,” Rodriguez said, according to Reuters.

LIVE UPDATES: VENEZUELA’S MADURO IS CAPTURED BY THE US

Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro is seen flanked by his wife Cilia Flores, right, and Delcy Rodriguez, left, in Caracas, Venezuela, May 24, 2018.(Marco Bello/Reuters)

Trump later shared to Truth Social a photo of Maduro seen detained, blindfolded and clutching a water bottle while wearing gray sweatpants and a sweatshirt aboard the U.S.S.Iwo Jima.Trump said he would later be brought to New York.

Maduro previously served asVenezuela’s vice presidentbefore he took power in 2013 following the death of then-leader Hugo Chávez.

Jorge Rodriguez, who is Delcy’s brother and is the head of Venezuela’s national assembly, remains in Caracas, three sourcestold Reuters.

When asked about what the future of Venezuela holds with Maduro no longer in the country, Trump said in an interview on �Friends Weekend” that “we’re making that decision now.”

REPUBLICANS LINE UP BEHIND TRUMP AFTER US STRIKES VENEZUELA, MADURO ARRESTED: ‘CHANGED THE COURSE OF HISTORY’

President Donald Trump shared a photo of captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima after strikes on Venezuela, on Saturday, Jan.3, 2026.(Truth Social/ @realDonaldTrump)

“We can’t take a chance of letting somebody else run and just take over where he left off. So we’re making that decision now,�“We’ll be involved in it very much, and we want to do liberty for the people.We want to, you know, have a great relationship. I think the people of Venezuela are very, very happy because they love the United States.You know, they were run by essentially a dictatorship or worse.”

Trump later confirmed at a press conference in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., that the U.S.would run Venezuela on a temporary basis.

The successors to Maduro are likely to be the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González,an expert said Saturday.