LAUREN FRAYER, HOST:
One day after the United States attacked Venezuela, seized and imprisoned the president and first lady on drug charges, the question is, who's in charge there now? President Trump claims his administration will run Venezuela until, quote, "a safe and proper and judicious transition is possible." He says Venezuela's vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, has expressed her willingness to work with the U.S. But in her first comments after being sworn in as interim leader, she condemned the U.S. action. Joining us now to talk about all of this is Venezuelan journalist Manuel Rueda, who is currently in Colombia. Welcome.
MANUEL RUEDA: Hi. Good afternoon.
FRAYER: Manuel, tell us what the situation is today in Venezuela. What's the reaction there?
RUEDA: Well, people are pretty nervous. It's a quiet situation. Most people are basically staying at home. When they do go out, they're going to supermarkets to do some shopping. We've seen long lines at supermarkets, just to buy extra things, like, for example, water or tuna cans, in case the situation gets out of control again and shops have to close. Overall...
FRAYER: Can you tell...
RUEDA: ...Though, it's a calm situation.
FRAYER: Can you tell us more about Rodriguez, the interim leader? Is there any clarity on how she's going to navigate this?
RUEDA: Yeah. So she's a longtime member of Venezuela's ruling party, the Socialist Party. She's been a foreign minister, oil minister. Now she's a vice president. And she is quite an influential figure, working very closely with her brother Jorge, who is the head of Venezuela's National Assembly. So far, what we know is the Supreme Court issued a ruling last night naming her the interim president, arguing that Maduro is temporarily unavailable to carry out his duties 'cause he's in jail in the United States. And that gives her a 90-day period, which can be extended to another 90 days. So she seems to be in there for at least six months.
FRAYER: President Trump has said that U.S. oil companies will be investing in, reviving and taking over Venezuela's oil sector. What's been the reaction to that?
RUEDA: Well, Rodriguez said very clearly in her first television appearance after the attacks that Venezuela would not be a U.S. colony. She's trying to present, like, a strong front against the U.S. government, probably not to encourage dissent within her own ruling party. But under the table, there could be many negotiations going on, you know? What will her administration offer Trump in order to be allowed to stay in power, to lift, for example, the oil embargo that the U.S. has on Venezuela? Marco Rubio spoke today and said that the priorities were, you know, competitors of the U.S. not getting rich off Venezuelan's oil, terrorist groups like Hezbollah leaving Venezuela and no more drug trafficking. So we'll see how the negotiations along those issues go.
FRAYER: And what about Maria Corina Machado, the opposition leader who won the Nobel Prize, the Nobel Peace Prize last year? She dedicated the prize to Trump, but she's nowhere to be seen. What do we know about how she fits in?
RUEDA: Yeah. She seems to have been sidelined by the Trump administration. You know, after the attacks happened, a few hours after that, she issued a statement saying that her colleague, Edmundo Gonzalez, who won the 2024 elections, should be installed in power immediately. Of course, that did not happen. Trump said he would not be working with her. And since then, the Venezuelan opposition has been silent. I suspect that they must be trying to reach out to the Trump administration to do some coordination because they've been left flat-footed. They look kind of bad after, you know, issuing a statement saying that now it's time for change, and then Trump saying they're not going to work with them.
FRAYER: That's Manuel Rueda, a Venezuelan journalist speaking to us from Bogota, Colombia. Thank you.
RUEDA: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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