Delcy Rodríguez, of a confrontational nature and trained on the left, is since this Monday the most powerful figure in Chavismo after being sworn in as interim president of Venezuela, amid the uncertainty over the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during an attack by US troops.
Rodríguez, 56, was second in line to succeed Maduro in the event of a “temporary” or “absolute” absence, according to the Venezuelan Constitution, which does not, however, foresee a scenario like the current one.
She also became the first woman to become president of Venezuela, after the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), aligned with Chavismo, ordered the appointment of the vice president until today.
Rodríguez is identified as a figure for Venezuela’s transition, after the bet that US President Donald Trump made when he announced that his Administration was in contact with her and asked for “full access” to Venezuela’s resources.
With several issues on the agenda: lending a hand to the United States, demanding the release of Maduro and promising a “Government that provides social happiness, political stability and political security.”
In an interview on Sunday with the weekly The Atlantic, Trump warned Rodríguez that if he “does not do the right thing” a “worse” future awaits him than that of Maduro.
The US president had previously indicated that he would not deploy troops in Venezuela or carry out new attacks against the country if Maduro’s “vice president does” what his Administration wants.
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Seeking dialogue
The now acting president has not commented on the matter, but on Sunday night she spoke on Telegram about building a “cooperation agenda” with the United States.
In addition, he formed a commission to manage Maduro’s release that will be chaired by his brother and head of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, and made up of children of the Venezuelan president, Foreign Minister Yván Gil; the Minister of Communication, Freddy Ñáñez and the president of the government program Gran Misión Vuelta a la Patria, Camila Fabri.
“I come with pain for the suffering that has been caused to the Venezuelan people after an illegitimate military aggression against our homeland,” Rodríguez said this Monday during the swearing-in ceremony.
In October of last year, the Miami Herald newspaper claimed that Rodríguez offered the United States to head a transitional government without Maduro to preserve the country’s political stability, a version that the official called false.
According to the American media, the vice president and her brother, along with a group of senior Venezuelan officials, presented two proposals approved by Maduro to the Trump Government, with the intermediation of Qatar.
Professional career
Rodríguez was in the vice presidency since June 2018, when she replaced Tareck El Aissami, and since August 2024 she has served as Minister of Hydrocarbons, which has made her a key figure within the Chavista Executive in managing the economy and has brought her closer to the country’s private business sector.
Previously, he had served as head of Economy, Finance and Foreign Trade; Minister of Communication and Information; chancellor and also as president of the National Constituent Assembly, established in 2017 outside the Parliament then formed by an opposition majority.
Her first position was as Minister of the Office of the President in 2006, under the mandate of the late President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013).
family life
Rodríguez was born in Caracas on May 18, 1969 and his approach to politics came very early, after his father, Jorge Antonio Rodríguez, died in July 1976 as a result of injuries inflicted on him by officials of the former Directorate of Police Intelligence Services (Disip).
The politician, founder of the Socialist League in Venezuela and considered a “revolutionary martyr” by Chavismo, had been detained by that security body accused of the kidnapping of the North American businessman William Frank Niehous, general manager of the glass processing company Owens Illinois.
Rodríguez graduated as a lawyer from the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) – the main one in the country – and studied social law at the University of Paris X Nanterre.
He also has a master’s degree in social and political science from Birkbeck University, London.
With information from EFE
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