Following the arrest of Nicolas Maduro by U.S. military forces and his subsequent transfer to New York to face criminal charges, Delcy Rodríguez has assumed the role of Venezuela’s de facto leader. President Donald Trump identified her as instrumental in enabling his policy for the nation.
During a press briefing on Saturday, Trump stated that the country would permit a transition to new leadership, asserting that Rodríguez is “essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again” and would follow U.S. directives.
However, Rodríguez, aged 56, maintained a defiant stance, demanding Maduro’s release and declaring that Venezuela would never again be a colony. Trump responded by threatening that “if she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.”
Iria Puyosa, a senior research fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Democracy+Tech Initiative and a former professor at the Central University of Venezuela, cautioned that Rodríguez may not have the backing of all factions within the ruling party.
“Rodríguez cannot guarantee the stability required for the business operations Trump emphasized several times during his remarks on the operation,” Puyosa noted. “Chavismo no longer enjoys the widespread popular support it had two decades ago.”
Her ascent to power marks the culmination of a career spent climbing the ranks of the Venezuelan government. At the time of Maduro’s capture, she held the position of oil minister in addition to her role as vice president.
Rodríguez was born in Caracas to a politically active left-wing family and pursued law studies at the Central University of Venezuela, including a brief period in France focusing on labor law.
She entered public service in the early 2000s during Hugo Chávez’s presidency, initially in technical and advisory capacities. Her career gained significant momentum after Chávez’s death in 2013. Following Maduro’s assumption of power, Rodríguez was appointed communications minister. She then served as foreign minister from 2014 to 2017.
In 2017, Rodríguez became president of the Constituent National Assembly, effectively marginalizing the opposition-controlled legislature. Maduro appointed her as his vice president and head of a Venezuelan intelligence agency in 2018.
She took on the additional role of economy minister in 2020, after Venezuela had endured years of economic hardship. While high oil prices supported the country during the Chávez administration, crude prices plummeted in 2014.
Economic mismanagement, high inflation, U.S. sanctions, and underinvestment in the oil sector exacerbated the country’s economic problems, compelling millions of Venezuelans to seek refuge elsewhere.
Despite her long-standing socialist affiliations, Rodríguez also developed a reputation as a technocrat and implemented market-oriented reforms in an effort to reverse the economy’s decline.
For instance, she privatized certain state-owned assets and adopted a more fiscally conservative policy than in previous periods. Rodríguez also fostered improved relations with business leaders.
Nevertheless, the economy remains in a dire state, having contracted by 80% since Maduro became president in 2013. Concurrently, Venezuela’s oil infrastructure has deteriorated significantly, leading to a sharp drop in production.
Despite possessing the world’s largest proven oil reserves, production has fallen to approximately 960,000 barrels per day from 3.2 million barrels daily in 2000 and a peak of nearly 4 million.
Trump’s objective is to rectify this situation, predicting that Maduro’s removal will spur a surge of investment in Venezuela from U.S. oil companies.
“We’re going to rebuild the oil infrastructure, which will cost billions of dollars,” he informed reporters on Saturday. “It’ll be paid for by the oil companies directly, and they will be reimbursed for what they’re doing. But it’s going to be paid, and we’re going to get the oil flowing.”