Nicolás Maduro was removed from power in early January 2026, when U.S. forces captured him and flew him to New York to face drug‑trafficking charges, and his vice president Delcy Rodríguez is now acting as Venezuela’s interim president.

Quick Scoop: What happened to the president of Venezuela?

1. The dramatic removal of Maduro

  • On 3–5 January 2026, U.S. forces carried out a rapid operation in Caracas, seizing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and extracting them to the United States.
  • Maduro is now in New York, where he has been charged with drug‑trafficking and related “narco‑terrorism” allegations that U.S. authorities had been building for years.
  • The operation has been framed by President Donald Trump as a decisive move against a “dictator” tied to narcotics and destabilization in the region.

Many Venezuelans see this not just as a legal case, but as a foreign military intervention that suddenly decapitated their government, reviving old fears of outside control.

2. Who is in charge now? Delcy Rodríguez

  • Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, was sworn in as interim or acting president in early January 2026, in line with a ruling from Venezuela’s top court after Maduro’s removal.
  • She is a long‑time Maduro loyalist who has held senior posts (foreign minister, vice president, oil portfolio) and is closely linked to the ruling party elite.
  • Publicly, Rodríguez still refers to Maduro as “the only president of Venezuela” and demands his release, even while exercising presidential powers herself, which creates a strange double narrative inside the country.

3. Is Maduro still “the president”?

There are now effectively two overlapping claims:

  • Legal and practical control inside Venezuela:
    • Institutions aligned with the ruling party accept Rodríguez as acting president, because the presidency is vacant while Maduro is detained abroad.
* She controls the day‑to‑day machinery of government, including key ministries and the security forces that did not collapse after Maduro’s capture.
  • Political symbolism and legitimacy:
    • Rodríguez and other leaders still call Maduro the legitimate president and portray him as a prisoner of a foreign power, not someone who left office voluntarily or was ousted by a domestic process.
* Some foreign governments and Venezuelan factions are cautious about recognizing the new setup, framing it as a U.S.-driven “regime change” rather than a constitutional transition.

So, in practice, Rodríguez runs the state, while Maduro’s status has shifted to that of a jailed former president whose supporters insist he remains the rightful leader.

4. What’s happening inside Venezuela now?

  • Power is still concentrated among Maduro’s old allies: Rodríguez, senior military figures, and top party officials who quickly closed ranks after his removal.
  • The U.S. now wields leverage because much of the revenue that keeps the Venezuelan state afloat—particularly from oil and related assets—is under U.S. control or influence.
  • There have been small but notable openings: some political prisoners have been released, and protests calling for more releases and political change have taken place without the immediate harsh crackdowns that were common before.

These steps are tentative and could either lead toward negotiations and elections—or stall if the new leadership feels secure enough to revert to old authoritarian patterns.

5. How the world is reacting

Different actors are framing “what happened” in very different ways:

  • U.S. administration: Presents the capture as a justified move against a corrupt, narco‑linked regime, and portrays Rodríguez as someone Washington can “work with” as long as she aligns with U.S. interests.
  • Rodríguez and ruling elites: Denounce the operation as imperial aggression, insist Venezuela will not be a “colony,” and demand proof that Maduro and Cilia Flores are alive and treated correctly.
  • Opposition figures: Some welcome Maduro’s departure but are wary of a transition dominated by foreign military power and by the same ruling elite that governed under him.

The big open question on forums and in policy circles is whether this ends in real elections and power‑sharing, or just a new strong figure presiding over a U.S.-managed status quo.

TL;DR: Maduro was captured by the U.S. in January 2026 and taken to New York on drug‑trafficking charges, while his vice president Delcy Rodríguez has become acting president and now runs Venezuela amid intense controversy over foreign intervention and legitimacy.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.