Venezuela descended into chaos on Monday night as heavy gunfire rang off near the presidential palace in Caracas after Nicolás Maduro was ousted as president.
Extraordinary images emerged on social media that showed people fleeing the gunfire as the explosives could be heard in Venezuela's capital.
Locals said 'anti-aircraft' blasts were heard from the general vicinity of the presidential palace after days of unrest in the streets since Maduro was whisked to America to face drug trafficking charges.
The night sky was lit up by what appeared to be drones and anti-aircraft fire from about 8.15pm local time, residents reported.
Witnesses said armored vehicles arrived at Miraflores presidential palace shortly after the gunfire, as troops were deployed to surrounding areas to respond to the volatile situation.
A White House official told CNN the administration is aware of reports of gunfire, but assured 'the US is not involved'.
The network also reported that the gunfire was the result among 'confusion' between paramilitary groups operating near the palace.
President Donald Trump vowed on Monday to help rebuild Venezuela's neglected infrastructure, sensationally revealing it could be 18 months before citizens are able to elect a new leader.
He also said then the US would be responsible for 'nursing' the nation back to health in the interim.
'We have to fix the country first. You can't have an election. There's no way the people could even vote,' Trump said.
'No, it's going to take a period of time. We have — we have to nurse the country back to health.'
It comes after Maduro declared himself 'the president of my country' as he protested his capture and pleaded not guilty to federal charges that the Trump administration used to justify removing him from power in Venezuela.
'I was captured,' Maduro said in Spanish as translated by a courtroom interpreter before being cut off by the judge.
Asked later for his plea to the charges, he stated: 'I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the constitutional president of my country.'
Maduro's court appearance in Manhattan, his first since he and his wife, Cilia Flores, were seized from their Caracas home Saturday in a stunning middle-of-the-night military operation, kicked off the U.S. government's most consequential prosecution in decades of a foreign head of state. She also pleaded not guilty.
The court set a next date of March 17, and no application for bail was made.
Explosions tore across Caracas during the daring raid on early Saturday morning, as Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek Saab claimed that 'innocents' had been 'mortally wounded' by the US operation.
With details still emerging on Monday, Havana said 32 Cubans were killed in the attack, while Trump suggested Cuba itself was close to collapse following Nicolás Maduro's capture.
'I don't think we need any action. It looks like it's going down,' Trump said.
The White House signaled it was not seeking full regime change, but rather Maduro's removal and the installation of a compliant new government - even one staffed by many of his former allies.
Anointed by mentor Hugo Chávez before his death in 2013, Maduro maintained an iron grip on power until his dramatic capture.
Maduro's vice president and ally Delcy Rodríguez has stepped in as interim President.
She's part of a band of senior officials in Maduro's administration that now appears to control Venezuela, even as Trump and other officials say they will pressure the government to fall in line with its vision for the oil-rich nation.
Trump announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been in communication with Rodríguez and that the Venezuelan leader was 'gracious' and would work with the American government. Rubio said Rodríguez was someone the administration could work with, unlike Maduro.
But in a televised address, Rodríguez gave no indication that she would cooperate with Trump, referring to his government as 'extremists' and maintaining that Maduro was Venezuela's rightful leader.
'What is being done to Venezuela is an atrocity that violates international law,' Rodríguez said, surrounded by high-ranking civilian officials and military leaders.
Trump warned if Rodríguez didn't fall in line, 'she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.' He added that he wanted her to provide 'total access,' from oil facilities to basic infrastructure like roads, so they can be rebuilt.
Venezuela's constitution requires an election within 30 days whenever the president becomes 'permanently unavailable' to serve. Reasons listed include death, resignation, removal from office or 'abandonment' of duties as declared by the National Assembly.
That electoral timeline was rigorously followed when Maduro's predecessor, Chavez, died of cancer in 2013.
The loyalist Supreme Court, in its decision Saturday, cited another provision of the charter in declaring Maduro's absence a 'temporary' one.
In such a scenario, there is no election requirement. Instead, the vice president, an unelected position, takes over for up to 90 days — a period that can be extended to six months with a vote of the National Assembly.
In handing temporary power to Rodríguez, the Supreme Court made no mention of the 180-day time limit, leading some to speculate she could try to remain in power even longer as she seeks to unite the disparate factions of the ruling socialist party while shielding it from what would certainly be a stiff electoral challenge.
