A top Venezuelan official declared that the country's government would stay unified behind President Nicolas Maduro, whose capture by the United States has sparked deep uncertainty about what is next for the oil-rich South American nation.
Mr Maduro is in a New York detention centre awaiting a court appearance on drug charges.
US President Donald Trump ordered his seizure from Venezuela yesterday and said the US would take control of the country.
But in Caracas, top officials in Mr Maduro's government, who have called the detentions of Mr Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores a kidnapping, were still in charge.
"Here, the unity of the revolutionary force is more than guaranteed, and here there is only one president, whose name is Nicolas Maduro Moros. Let no one fall for the enemy's provocations," Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said in an audio recording released by the ruling PSUV socialist party.
Images of the 63-year-old Mr Maduro, blindfolded and handcuffed yesterday, stunned Venezuelans. The operation was Washington's most controversial intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama 37 years ago.
Without providing specifics, Defence Minister General Vladimir Padrino said on state television the US attack killed soldiers, civilians and a "large part" of Mr Maduro's security detail "in cold blood."
Venezuela's armed forces have been activated to guarantee sovereignty, he said.
Vice President Delcy Rodriguez - who also serves as oil minister - has taken over as interim leader with the blessing of Venezuela's top court, though she has said Mr Maduro remains president.
Because of her connections with the private sector and deep knowledge of oil, the country's top revenue source, Ms Rodriguez has long been considered the most pragmatic member of Mr Maduro's inner circle.
But she has publicly contradicted Mr Trump's claim she is willing to work with the United States.
Mr Trump said Ms Rodriguez may pay a bigger price than Mr Maduro "if she doesn't do what's right," according to an interview with The Atlantic magazine today.
The Venezuelan communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that remark.
Meanwhile, five Latin American countries and Spain warned against any outside bid for "control" of Venezuela, after President Trump suggested Washington would "run" the country and access its oil.
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Spain, in a joint statement, expressed their "rejection" of US forces' ousting of Mr Maduro as Venezuela's president and "concern about any attempt at governmental control or administration or outside appropriation of natural or strategic resources".
With memories of painful US interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, many world leaders were staggered at Mr Trump's move, even though Mr Maduro's standing was low given his autocratic rule and substantial evidence of vote-rigging.
Watch: Maduro arrives at US Drug Enforcement Administration
'A quarantine on their oil'
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Venezuela's next leader should be aligned with US interests. Those include keeping Venezuela's oil industry out of the hands of US adversaries and stopping drug trafficking. He cited an ongoing US blockade on tankers under sanctions as leverage.
"That means their economy will not be able to move forward until the conditions that are in the national interest of the United States and the interest of the Venezuelan people are met," he said on ABC's 'This Week'.
The Venezuelan government has said for months Mr Trump was seeking to take the country's vast natural resources, especially its oil, and officials made much of his comment yesterday that major US oil companies would move in.
"We are outraged because in the end everything was revealed - it was revealed that they only want our oil," added Mr Cabello.
Once one of the most prosperous nations in Latin America, Venezuela's economy tanked in the 2000s under President Hugo Chavez and nosedived further under Mr Maduro, sending about one in five Venezuelans abroad in one of the world's biggest exoduses.
Muted streets
Some Mr Maduro supporters gathered at a government-sponsored protest march this afternoon in Caracas.
Once ruled by Spain, Venezuela's "people must not surrender, nor should we ever become a colony of anyone again," said demonstrator Reinaldo Mijares. "This country is not a country of the defeated".
Mr Maduro's opponents in Venezuela have been wary of celebrating his seizure, and the presence of security forces seemed, if anything, lighter than usual today.
Despite a nervous mood, some bakeries and coffee shops were open, and joggers and cyclists were out as usual. Some citizens were stocking up on essentials.
"Yesterday I was very afraid to go out, but today I had to. This situation caught me without food and I need to figure things out. After all, Venezuelans are used to enduring fear," said a single mother in oil city Maracaibo who bought rice, vegetables and tuna.
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To the disappointment of Venezuela's opposition, Mr Trump has given short shrift to the idea of 58-year-old opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado taking over, saying she lacked support.
Ms Machado was banned from standing in the 2024 election, but has said her ally Edmundo Gonzalez, 76, who the opposition and some international observers say overwhelmingly won that vote, has a democratic mandate to take the presidency.
Watch: Marco Rubio responds to queries about the legality of the Maduro arrest
Looming questions
It is unclear how Mr Trump plans to oversee Venezuela, and he runs the risk of alienating some supporters who oppose foreign interventions.
US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the White House has failed to say how long the US intends to be in Venezuela and how many American troops might be required.
"The American people are worried that this is creating an endless war - the very thing that Donald Trump campaigned against," Mr Schumer said on ABC's 'This Week'.
He said politicians would weigh a measure to constrain further Trump administration action in Venezuela, though its prospects could be uncertain given that Congress is controlled by Mr Trump's Republicans.
Watch: Donald Trump says US will 'run' Venezuela
While many Western nations oppose Mr Maduro, there were many calls for the US to respect international law, and questions arose over the legality of seizing a foreign head of state.
In a statement, US Attorney General Pam Bondi, echoing the message put forth by the Trump administration since Mr Maduro's capture, described the action as a "law enforcement mission" to force him to face US criminal charges filed in 2020, including narco-terrorism conspiracy.
Mr Maduro has denied criminal involvement.
The UN Security Council planned to meet tomorrow to discuss the attack. Russia and China, both major backers of Venezuela, have criticised the US.
OPEC+ keeps oil output steady despite turmoil among members
OPEC+ agreed to maintain steady oil output at its meeting today, the group said in a statement, despite political tensions between key members Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and the US capture of the president of smaller producer Venezuela.
Today's meeting of eight members of OPEC+, which pumps about half the world's oil, comes after oil prices fell more than 18% in 2025 - their steepest yearly drop since 2020 - amid growing oversupply concerns.
The eight - Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria and Oman - raised oil output targets by around 2.9 million barrels per day from April to December 2025, equal to almost 3% of world oil demand.
They agreed in November to pause output hikes for January, February and March. Today's brief online meeting did not discuss Venezuela, one OPEC+ delegate said.
The eight countries will meet next on 1 February, the statement said.
