CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro has been taken into U.S. custody after a surprise military operation, and Vice President Delcy Rodríguez moved to steady the government as troops and police tightened security in the capital and opposition leaders urged restraint, Jan. 6, 2026.
The abrupt removal of Maduro has opened two fronts at once: a high-stakes U.S. criminal case that could test claims of head-of-state immunity, and a diplomatic scramble at the United Nations and across the region over whether Washington’s action was lawful and what happens to Venezuela’s state institutions next.
Maduro’s capture and the immediate handover
Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro ally and one of the government’s most influential power brokers, was formally sworn in as interim president in a ceremony led by National Assembly chief Jorge Rodríguez, her brother, according to Reuters. The swearing-in was aimed at projecting continuity, even as the opposition questioned the legitimacy of any succession plan shaped by the ruling party’s institutions.
In public statements, Rodríguez has tried to strike a careful tone: promising order at home while signaling openness to talks abroad. Her first days will likely be defined by whether the military, state oil managers and key ministries remain aligned—and whether the streets stay quiet as rumors and anger spread.
Maduro case tests courts, sanctions and diplomacy
Maduro appeared in federal court in Manhattan and pleaded not guilty, calling his seizure a “kidnapping,” according to an AP report. Prosecutors allege a yearslong conspiracy involving cocaine trafficking and weapons offenses; legal experts say the proceedings may hinge on how a U.S. judge treats immunity arguments now that Maduro is no longer governing in Caracas.
A Reuters summary of the charges says the indictment includes narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation allegations and describes prosecutors’ claim that Maduro used state resources and diplomatic channels to protect trafficking networks, including ties to criminal groups, details outlined here. The White House and U.S. lawmakers are also weighing what to do with sanctions policy that has swung for years between pressure and negotiated relief.
Maduro’s fall revives older, unresolved disputes
The crisis echoes the 2019 standoff when opposition leader Juan Guaidó declared an interim presidency and won recognition from several foreign governments; the European Parliament, for example, backed Guaidó as de facto leader at the time, Reuters reported in a 2019 dispatch. That effort ultimately failed to dislodge Maduro, but it hardened the lines between Venezuela’s institutions and rival claimants to legitimacy.
It also pulls forward long-running legal exposure abroad. U.S. prosecutors first unveiled sweeping narco-terrorism charges against Maduro and other Venezuelan officials in 2020, according to the Justice Department’s announcement. Separately, international scrutiny has intensified through the International Criminal Court’s Venezuela file, which remains active on the court’s case page.
For Venezuelans, the most immediate question is whether Maduro’s capture brings relief—or a new, riskier phase of uncertainty. For Rodríguez, the challenge is to prevent a power vacuum at home while navigating a world in which Venezuela’s political fate is suddenly being argued in courtrooms and council cha
