According to multiple outlets, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, the presumed successor to Nicolás Maduro, fled to Russia after the U.S. military conducted an operation that led to the capture of Maduro. A Reuters report said “four sources familiar with her movements” indicated she’s in Russia. MADURO'S HEIR: As President Donald Trump announces Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was captured and is aboard the USS Iwo Jima, his presumed successor, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, possibly surfaces in Russia, Reuters reports. https://t.co/BRvuiR3yAl — Fox News (@FoxNews) January 3, 2026 However, Russia’s foreign ministry said the report was fake. BREAKING: Russia’s Foreign Ministry has told the country’s TASS news agency that reports of Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez being in Russia “are false”. LIVE updates: https://t.co/nY9sRZ7nid pic.twitter.com/XeOzaWRfVL — Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) January 3, 2026 Reuters noted: Her brother, Jorge Rodriguez, the head of the national assembly, is in Caracas, three sources with knowledge of his whereabouts said. Delcy Rodriguez appeared in an audio message on state television earlier in the day, calling for proof of life of Maduro and his wife Cilia, while Jorge Rodriguez has not appeared since the attack. RT also stated rumors of her presence in Russia are completely false. Lavrov in communication with Venezuela's Delcy Rodriguez following Maduro's capture He expresses Russia's STRONG solidarity with the people of Venezuela in face of armed aggression Rumors of her presence in Russia 'completely false' — MFA pic.twitter.com/jKkuB1URTB — RT (@RT_com) January 3, 2026 Fox News shared further: 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.” “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. 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.