Trump Threatens 'Very Big Price' as Venezuelan Military Recognizes New Acting President
Donald Trump warned acting Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodriguez of a “very big price” if she fails to cooperate, as the military recognized her interim presidency after Nicolas Maduro was seized.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - A sharp warning from the President of the united State, Donald Trump and a swift show of support from Venezuela’s military defined a turbulent political moment, as Delcy Rodriguez was recognized as acting president and cautioned by Washington to cooperate or face severe consequences.
President Donald Trump said Sunday that Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez, would pay a “very big price” if she failed to cooperate with the United States, following the seizure and detention of her former boss, Nicolas Maduro.
“If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” Trump told The Atlantic in a brief telephone interview.
On the same day, Venezuela’s military recognized Rodriguez, the deputy to ousted president Nicolas Maduro, as the country’s acting leader. The move followed the extraction of Maduro by US forces to face trial, a development that plunged the country into uncertainty.
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez appeared on state television to announce the military’s backing of Rodriguez, reading a statement that endorsed a Supreme Court ruling appointing her as acting president for ninety days. Padrino called on Venezuelans to return to their daily routines, speaking less than two days after US strikes shook Caracas and special forces seized Maduro and his wife.
He described the operation as a “cowardly kidnapping” and said some of Maduro’s bodyguards were killed “in cold blood,” along with military personnel and civilians on the Venezuelan side. Venezuelan authorities have not released an official toll for those wounded or killed during the US operations.
Padrino urged calm, saying, “I call on the people of Venezuela to resume their activities of all kinds, economic, work and education, in the coming days. The homeland must follow its constitutional course.”
As Washington issues stark warnings and Caracas seeks a return to normalcy, Venezuela enters a volatile interim period marked by competing narratives, unanswered questions, and an uncertain political path ahead.