A week after being sworn in as acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez has been imposing a discreet pace of government, which seeks to keep alive ties with President Nicolás Maduro and the legacy of the late ruler Hugo Chávez, while trying to build bridges with the Donald Trump Administration.
In eight days, with a style less prone to media exposure, Rodríguez has replaced Maduro’s extensive speeches and televised programs with statements, specific statements by the Minister of Communication and Information, Freddy Ñáñez, and events with brief interventions.
Nor has he been seen in the numerous marches called by Chavismo to reject the US military attack and demand the release of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, whose arrest has been rejected by the Chavista leader.
On his first day in office, for example, he visited the Cuartel de la Montaña, where the remains of Chávez, considered the father of the Bolivarian revolution, rest.
Continue reading: Machado considers Delcy Rodríguez’s Government in Venezuela ‘absolutely temporary’
“There is a Government”
“Here there is a Government that rules in Venezuela, here there is a president in charge and there is a president hostage in the United States,” Rodríguez said this Monday, responding to cartoons that he claimed to have seen on Wikipedia about “who rules in Venezuela.”
The Chavista leader – who claims to govern “together with the organized people” – thus alluded to a publication by the US president in Truth Social, where on Sunday he posted a manipulated image of his profile on Wikipedia, in which he attributes the position of “interim president of Venezuela” as of January 2026.
Trump has not spared, meanwhile, threats towards the Rodríguez Administration.
“If he doesn’t do what’s right, he’s going to pay a very high price, probably higher than Maduro’s,” said Trump, in an interview published on January 4 by The Atlantis magazine, a day after US planes and helicopters attacked areas of Caracas and neighboring points and took away the Venezuelan president and his wife.
New relationship
After a week in office, the relationship with Washington has taken a different turn, although, according to Rodríguez, always within “international relations of respect and the framework of international legality.”
On January 7, the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) confirmed a negotiation process with the United States for the sale of “volumes” of crude oil, a day after Trump assured that the Caracas Executive is willing to deliver 30 to 50 million barrels of oil.
A day later, Jorge Rodríguez, brother of the president in charge and chief negotiator for Chavismo, announced the release of “a significant number of people,” which includes Venezuelans and foreigners, without specifying the number.
That same day, flanked by the senior military officer, Rodríguez paid tribute to the Venezuelan and Cuban soldiers who died in the US attack, in an act in which she shook hands, hugged and talked with relatives of those in uniform.
Finally, on Friday, January 9, both governments confirmed the sending of delegations of diplomats from Washington and Caracas to explore the possibility of reopening their embassies.
“Progress is being made in the restart and opening of the Venezuelan embassies in the United States and the United States in Venezuela, that will allow us to have consular representation so that they can ensure the safety and tranquility of our president Nicolás Maduro and Cilia,” said this Monday the second of Chavismo, Diosdado Cabello, who has given his support to Rodríguez while demanding the return of the presidential couple.
With information from EFE
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