New Delhi [India], January 7 (ANI): Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday highlighted Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez's connection to India.

In a post on X, he said that Rodriguez is a devoted follower of Satya Sai Baba, just like her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro. She has visited his ashram in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, multiple times, including in August 2023 and October 2024. During her 2023 visit, she met with then-Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.

'Delcy Rodriguez has been sworn in as the Interim President of Venezuela. She has visited India a couple of times and like Nicolas Maduro has been a follower of Satya Sai Baba. In Aug 2023, she had met with the-then Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar - of whom sadly nothing is heard of these days,' posted Ramesh.

Notably, Venezuela has a strong Sai Baba following, with the first Sai Centre opening in Caracas in 1974. Maduro even declared a national day of mourning after Sai Baba's death in 2011.

He also remembered that Simon Bolivar, the famous Venezuelan leader, iconic in India, with a statue in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. He led the war of independence from Spain, shaping South America's history.

'The most famous Venezuelan must be Simon Bolivar whose statue is at a prominent location in Chanakyapuri in New Delhi. Bolivar led the war of independence from Spain in the first few decades of the 19th century that resulted in the emergence of a number of new countries in South America.'

Rodriguez officially took charge as the acting President on January 5, 2026, two days after the United States launched a strike in Venezuela and captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The couple are currently lodged at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, New York, and pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges related to drugs and weapons.

Following the US action, Rodriguez announced seven days of national mourning, citing deaths reported during the attack in Caracas and condemning what she described as foreign aggression. According to a CNN report, she asserted that Venezuela continues to be governed by its own constitutional authorities and not by any external power. (ANI)