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

Four sources familiar with the movements of Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez confirmed her location to Reuters, although the news agency cited Russia’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 President Donald Trump said the pair were captured in a U.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 

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 as Venezuela’s vice president before 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 sources told Reuters. 

When asked about what the future of Venezuela holds with Maduro no longer in the country, Trump said in an interview on «Fox & 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,» Trump told Fox News. «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. 

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

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

Jorge Jraissati, a Venezuelan who is the president of the Economic Inclusion Group, told Fox News Digital that «Machado and Gonzalez would assume a transitional government in Venezuela. 

Fox News’ Rachel Wolf, Benjamin Weinthal and Efrat Lachter contributed to this report. 

El planeta entero está hablando del operativo de Estados Unidos en territorio venezolano para extraer a Nicolás Maduro del país que gobernó los últimos 12 años.

Los medios más importantes del mundo, como los estadounidenses The New York Times y The Washington Post, los británicos The Times y The Guardian, El País de España, Le Monde de Francia o Japan Times, entre muchos otros, reflejan minuto a minuto la situación del país sudamericano.

“EEUU. captura a Maduro, dice Trump. Líder venezolano fue expulsado del país tras ataque a gran escala”, dice la portada del The New York Times, el diario más importante del planeta, que además acompañó con otras notas críticas.

En una Opinión del Comité Editorial titulada “El ataque de Trump a Venezuela es ilegal e imprudente”, el medio estadounidense asegura que si bien “pocas personas sentirán simpatía por Maduro” ya que es “antidemocrático y represivo” intentar derrocar “incluso al régimen más deplorable puede empeorar las cosas” y destacó que “Trump aún no ha ofrecido una explicación coherente de sus acciones en Venezuela”. 

Su principal competidor, el prestigioso The Washington Post lleva en su título principal de portada la leyenda “Maduro capturado será llevado a Nueva York, dice Trump” y completa la información con una bajada que dice que “Estados Unidos lanzó un ‘ataque a gran escala’ contra Venezuela”.

“Trump dice que Estados Unidos estará ‘fuertemente involucrado’ en la industria petrolera de Venezuela tras ataque a Caracas y captura de Maduro”, eligió titular el británico The Guardian tras las primeras declaraciones de Donald Trump desde Mar-a-Lago.

Julián Borger, corresponsal senior del medio inglés en Venezuela, escribió que “la ‘putinización’ de la política exterior estadounidense ha llegado” al país sudamericano y asegura que “Trump ya no está doblando las reglas: las está demoliendo, con consecuencias mucho más allá de Caracas”.

“El ataque a Venezuela (que inicialmente fue planeado para el día de Navidad, según un informe estadounidense) sugiere que el atractivo de las tierras extranjeras, el petróleo y los minerales ahora brilla más que el premio Nobel”, escribió el periodista.

El tradicional diario francés Le Monde eligió para su portada el título: “Tras el secuestro de Nicolás Maduro en Venezuela, Donald Trump afirma que ‘controlará el país hasta una transición segura’” y, en una nota secundaria, el medio enumera “las principales intervenciones de Washington en América Latina desde la Guerra Fría”.

En España, El País de Madrid encabeza con el título “Trump comparece tras el ataque de EEUU a Venezuela y la captura de Maduro” y destaca lo que dijo la opositora María Corina Machado, además de que “Maduro será juzgado en Nueva York por corrupción y terrorismo”.

El diario alemán Der Spiegel remarca que el “éxito” de la operación militar estadounidense y publica que “Venezuela posee un sistema de defensa aérea relativamente moderno; sin embargo, la operación estadounidense en Caracas, presuntamente llevada a cabo por fuerzas especiales de la “Fuerza Delta”, tuvo éxito».

La Reppublica, uno de los diarios más importantes de Italia, corrigió la foto falsa que había publicado inicialmente que ubicaba a Maduro vestido de blanco en un avión junto a marines estadounidenses. Lo hizo luego de que Trump difundiera una imagen real del venezolano esposado y vestido con una campera de algodón gris, y las orejas y los ojos cubiertos. “Incursión estadounidense en Venezuela. Maduro y su esposa fueron capturados en un barco rumbo a Nueva York. Trump: ‘Están acusados de narcoterrorismo. Gobernaremos el país hasta la transición’, titula en su portada.

Corriere della Sera, el otro diario importante de Italia a nivel nacional, compuso su portada con un título de múltiple información: “Ataque de EE. UU. en Venezuela. Trump publica foto de Maduro tras su captura: ‘Hemos usado una fuerza nunca vista desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Gobernaremos hasta la transición’. Machado: ‘La hora de la libertad’”. 

El brasileño Folha de Sao Paulo replicó en primera plana la foto de Maduro capturado y tituló con un textual de Donald Trump: “Vamos a gobernar Venezuela hasta que haya una transición”.

En un análisis editorial asegura que la “acción militar americana contra Venezuela es un crimen de agresión” y remarca que el “ataque viola el derecho internacional”.

El diario carioca O Globo también remarca con carácter de “urgente” las declaraciones de Trump: “Dice que EEUU va a ‘permanecer en Venezuela’ hasta una ‘transición apropiada’” y acompaña la manifestación pública del presidente de Brasil, Lula Da Silva, quien “condenó los ataques a Venezuela”.

El Tiempo, de Colombia, país que limita con Venezuela igual que Brasil, destaca que Trump pudo ver en “tiempo real” la captura de Maduro y otra nota de su “Unidad investigativa” revela que “Maduro intentó refugiarse en un búnker blindado”. En tanto que El Universal, el diario más tradicional de México elige la frase de Trump “vamos a dirigir el país” para encabezar sus titulares.

After a year in which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement dramatically increased its operations under President Donald Trump and simultaneously faced an increase in attacks against officials, the agency is highlighting the «best of the best» agents for particularly heroic actions in the line of duty.

In a Friday statement, ICE said that «despite the obstacles they face, including record numbers of violent anti-ICE rioters assaulting law enforcement, terrorist attacks, and bounties placed on their heads, our courageous officers have proven their commitment to upholding the rule of law in the United States and making America safe again.»

According to the agency, agents faced an increase of 1,347 percent in assaults and an 8,000 percent increase in death threats against them. ICE blamed these increases on «lies and smears from sanctuary politicians and radical activists, and hoaxes spread by the media.»

«Despite that, their heroic efforts have led to historic results, helping DHS remove more than 622,000 illegal aliens,» ICE said, noting that tens of thousands of those removals were of criminal offenders, including murderers, rapists, child sex abusers, terrorists and gang members.

WAVE OF CAR ATTACKS ON ICE AGENTS FOLLOWS INCENDIARY RHETORIC FROM TARGET-CITY LEADERS

«That, coupled with more than 2 million illegal aliens who chose to self-deport, has created a cycle that benefits the American public,» the agency said, adding, «As ICE continues to remove more illegal aliens, more illegal aliens wisely choose to self-deport and avoid arrest.»

Among the stories highlighted by the agency was a July 11 incident in Philadelphia in which two ICE officers encountered a truck that had veered off the road and crashed into a tree. The agency said the pair «sprang into action, rescuing the driver and extinguishing an engine fire while waiting for emergency responders to arrive.»

In Dallas, the agency said that ICE officers witnessed a pickup truck lose control after losing a tire, causing it to roll seven times and land upside-down. ICE said its officers and two bystanders pried open the truck’s door and pulled the driver to safety.

On Sept. 25, ICE said that members of its Denver special response team saved another man’s life by pulling him from a burning car along the highway. The agency said the team was en route to the Broadview, Illinois, processing facility on Sept. 25 when they approached the fiery aftermath of a multi-car highway collision.

OREGON RESIDENTS SUE HOMELAND SECURITY AFTER TEAR GAS USED ON ANTI-ICE PROTESTERS

ICE said that agents’ quick response at Dallas (left) and Philadelphia (right) crash sites saved lives. (ICE)

ICE said that «as smoke billowed from the small car, the officers responded quickly and discovered a man with his legs pinned under the dashboard inside, unconscious and covered in blood.»

The agents broke the vehicle’s window, extracted the man, and provided first aid before emergency responders arrived at the scene and transported him to a hospital.

In Nuevo, California, the agency said that on Oct. 2, an off-duty ICE officer discovered a man suffering from a serious neck wound and quickly provided lifesaving aid to him while instructing his son to call 911.

ICE said the officer used his own first-aid kit and applied a pressure bandage to control the heavy bleeding and stabilize the victim before first responders arrived to transport the victim to a hospital.

Just weeks later, on Oct. 21, the agency said that an ICE deportation officer was conducting enforcement actions in Philadelphia when he heard multiple gunshots nearby. According to the agency, the officer then saw three juveniles fleeing the area and discovered a man who had been shot in the left thigh. ICE said that he and officers from the Philadelphia Police Department applied a tourniquet, and local police drove the man to a nearby hospital for treatment.

ICE AGENTS OPEN FIRE ON VAN DRIVER WHO ALLEGEDLY TRIED TO RUN THEM OVER ON CHRISTMAS EVE

ICE said that in Nuevo, California, the agency said that on Oct. 2, an off-duty ICE officer discovered a man suffering from a serious neck wound and quickly provided lifesaving aid to him while instructing his son to call 911. (ICE)

Commenting on these stories, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said that «courage is measured by actions, not words.»

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

«Every day, ERO [Enforcement and Removal Operations] officers show up knowing the risks they face — and they choose to serve anyway,» said Lyons. «And throughout the year, officers across the agency demonstrated professionalism, restraint and courage in moments that demanded all three.»

«These stories remind us that law enforcement is about responsibility to the communities we serve, and I’m incredibly proud to be part of this organization,» he added.