Venezuelans face uncertainty while awaiting Trump's next moves with the country

Lisa Desjardins:

Good evening. I'm Lisa Desjardins. John Yang is away.

The world's eyes are on Venezuela. In Caracas this morning, high tension but relative calm one day after the US military captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and brought him to the United States for trial on drug trafficking charges and weapons charges. But profound questions remain, especially after President Trump's repeated statements that the US will be running Venezuela.

On ABC's "This Week," Secretary of State Marco Rubio described a more indirect but intense pressure campaign.

Marco Rubio:

First of all, what's going to happen here is that we have a quarantine on their oil. 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 interests of the Venezuelan people are met.

Lisa Desjardins:

Officials in the Maduro government in Venezuela remain defiant, including interim President Delcy Rodriguez. But from Trump today, a new threat. He told the Atlantic she will pay a "very big price, probably bigger than Maduro," if she doesn't do what he thinks is right.

For the tens of millions in Venezuela, a sense of instability.

Cecilia Romero, Human Resource Analyst (through translation):

We're walking around looking for medicine for food. There's anxiety and desperation, and we don't know what will happen.

Joaquin Restrepo, retired resident (through translation): We're all living with this uncertainty to see what will happen, what the directives will be so we can continue with life.

Lisa Desjardins:

And we begin our coverage tonight with feature Story News reporter Mary Triny Mena in Venezuela's capital, Caracas. Mary, how are people coping there today? And what does that say about where they think things stand?

Mary Triny Mena:

We've been talking to people here in Caracas, and there are two words that comes to my mind, and those are shock and concern because I've been driving around the city looking for pharmacies and supermarkets, and most of them have people lining up to buy some food and medicine and notice because there's a scarcity of product. Because people believe something more could happen in the coming days.

From the government side, the Maduro governments, the people that remain loyal to Nicolas Maduro, believe that the contract should continue. The Ministry of Defense of Venezuela, General Vladimir Padrino, said so today. He said that the country should continue its activities while demanding the release of Nicolas Maduro.

He pledged loyalty to Delcy Rodriguez, which is now the interim president of Venezuela.

Lisa Desjardins:

What do you know about who is in charge there? And do people believe that the interim government will stand?

Mary Triny Mena:

Well, they have the support of Venezuela security forces. So as long as the high ranking officials are supporting the government of Delcy Rodriguez, the country is run by most of them. If you walk in the streets of Caracas, you will see checkpoints, you will see police officers and members of different agencies of the government verifying that everything is staying calm.

So when you feel that and you feel that they are in control of the domestic flights, the border, you tend to believe that they are in control of the situation. Really the city is in calm. There are some demonstrations in favor of Maduro and some other people that decided to really stay at home and weigh what will happen in the coming days.

Lisa Desjardins:

Mary, our last question in the last few seconds, do you have a sense of how people there view the United States right now?

Mary Triny Mena:

I've been asking that too. And when you ask about the outcome of the operation, some people say that it was unfair that the US attacked Venezuelan soil making or posing risk on Venezuelans, not only on the authorities they were looking for. And some other people prefer not to respond that question because they say they have fears of reprise from the government.

We need to remember that Venezuelans are living under an authoritarian regime and there's censorship in the country. There are TV stations that are not broadcasting the events, just the message coming from the Maduro government and his loyals.

Lisa Desjardins:

Mary Triny Mena, thank you so much.

Mary Triny Mena:

Thank you for having me.