With US forces capturing the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday (January 3), following months of build-up and attacks on allegedly drug-carrying boats in the region, what happens in Venezuela itself is unclear.
On the same day as the US military action, the Supreme Court ordered that Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assume the role of acting president. This was to be done “in order to guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defense of the Nation.”
Rodríguez is currently said to be in Russia, but the Russian Foreign Ministry termed a Reuters report on her location as “fake.” In a recent video message, she asked US President Donald Trump for proof of the lives of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Trump later said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to her: “She said, ‘We’re going to do whatever you need.’ I think she was quite courteous. We’re going to do this right.”
Here is what to know about the woman who is set to lead Venezuela at a particularly tumultuous time.
1. Leftist guerrilla leader father
Rodríguez, 56, comes from a family well-known for its Leftist political standing. As a report in The New York Times noted, her father, Jorge Antonio, was arrested and charged for his role in the kidnapping of an American businessman. He died in 1976, at the age of 34, after being interrogated by intelligence agents.
Her brother, Jorge, is the president of the National Assembly or the legislature of Venezuela and was Maduro’s “chief political strategist.” Rodríguez rose to power thanks to the fact that she enjoyed the confidence of Maduro, who first assumed the presidency after the death of the towering socialist leader Hugo Chávez in 2013.
Since then, Rodríguez held the communications and foreign affairs portfolios, and she became the Vice President in 2018.
2. Introduced economic reforms, liberalisation
Story continues below this ad
Rodríguez is also the minister for finance and oil — a key portfolio in a country estimated to have the world’s largest oil reserves.
Despite her strong socialist credentials, she is believed to have helped usher in some reforms in the economy after a period of low growth in the 2010s, which followed years of oil-induced boom. Rodríguez is credited with building bridges with those in the business community, including companies outside Venezuela.
3. Choice of US officials?
The NYT reported that in Rodríguez, US officials had “settled on an acceptable candidate” to succeed Maduro. Compared to him, they believed that she would be better suited to protect the interests of American energy companies.
The report further claims that the choice was “easy” because Trump had “never warmed up to the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who had organized a winning presidential campaign in 2024, earning her the Nobel Peace Prize this year.”
Story continues below this ad
Machado has supported Trump vocally. When Bloomberg asked her about her views on the US strikes on Venezuelan boats, she said, “I believe the escalation that’s taken place is the only way to force Maduro to understand that it’s time to go.” However, Trump did not agree with having Machado be in control, stating that she lacked the “respect” and support needed to govern Venezuela.
But whether Rodríguez agrees to the terms and conditions posed by the US government remains to be seen. Now that she is in power, she could turn another way, having recently written on X after the US attacks that “Today we are prepared to assert our mandate and seize power.”
