The Venezuelan parliament has inaugurated Delcy Rodríguez as interim president, two days after US forces kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro.
Rodriguez took the oath of office during a ceremony in the National Assembly on Monday, telling lawmakers she was doing so "in the name of all Venezuelans."
She said she was "in pain over the kidnapping of our heroes, the hostages in the United States," referring to Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
Parliament slammed the kidnapping of leftist leader Maduro while vowing support for his stand-in Rodriguez after the US military attack that shocked Caracas and the world.
Outside the legislature, thousands of Venezuelans gathered to demand the release of their leader, chanting: "Maduro, hold on: Venezuela is rising!"
Members of the National Assembly offered their full backing to Rodriguez, who had been Maduro's vice president, and reelected her brother Jorge Rodriguez as parliament speaker.
As Monday's session opened, lawmakers chanted: "Let's go Nico!", a slogan of Maduro's presidential campaign ahead of 2024 elections.
On President Donald Trump's orders, US military forces early Saturday launched an attack on the Venezuelan capital and abducted Maduro and his wife.
"The president of the United States, Mr Trump, claims to be the prosecutor, the judge, and the policeman of the world," senior lawmaker Fernando Soto Rojas said in an address to colleagues.
"We say: you will not succeed. And we will ultimately deploy all our solidarity so that our legitimate president, Nicolas Maduro, returns victorious to Miraflores," the presidential palace, he added.
'In good hands'
Venezuela's Supreme Court on Saturday ordered Delcy Rodriguez to assume the presidency "in an acting capacity," and on Sunday the military also threw its support behind her.
With Jorge Rodriguez's reelection, the influential siblings are in control of Venezuela's executive and legislative branches.
Jorge Rodriguez vowed in front of his lawmaker colleagues Monday to pursue "all procedures, all platforms, and all avenues to bring back Nicolas Maduro Moros, my brother, my president."
Maduro's lawmaker son Nicolas Maduro Guerra also offered his support for the acting president.
"Count on me, count on my family," Maduro Guerra, known as "Nicolasito," told Rodriguez during an address to parliament, adding the country was "in good hands" until his parents' "return."
New members of Venezuela's single-chamber parliament were chosen last May in elections.
Maduro Guerra said Monday Venezuela "asks for neither privileges nor concessions; it demands respect... We want international relations with everyone, based on equality, mutual respect, and cooperation, without threats and without interference."
He stepped outside to address the protesters, telling them he was in "indirect" contact with his father.
"We have a strong team over there that’s supporting us," he said.
Delcy Rodriguez, who on Saturday insisted Maduro remains the country's "only" president, later extended an offer of cooperation to Washington, who has said it would work with Venezuela's leaders if they do what it wants.
Trump meanwhile warned Rodriguez could face a fate worse than Maduro if she failed to heed US demands on policy reforms and oil access.
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