Who is Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro's VP and now the acting president of Venezuela?

06 Jan 2026, 17:21 · France 24

Hours after US forces captured Nicolas Maduro in a military operation, vice president Delcy Rodriguez insisted he remained the "only president" of Venezuela, demanded his release and said the government in Caracas stood ready "to defend" the country.

But while she was quick to denounce Maduro's "kidnapping", she also called for cooperation and respectful relations with Washington. And she may just be the steady hand needed to lead the country's political transition.

A lawyer specialising in labour law, Rodriguez, 56, spent almost a decade in France and England during her postgraduate studies. She served Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez, as vice-minister for European affairs among other roles.

As Maduro's foreign minister and then vice president starting in 2018, she added the role of oil minister in 2024 – a key post in a country whose economy depends on oil exports.

Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, and US President Donald Trump has made clear that gaining access to that oil is a key goal of his Venezuela campaign.

Trump’s advisers believe they may be able to work behind the scenes with Rodriguez, who despite her public defiance, is seen as a technocrat who might be amenable to working with the US on a political transition and key oil-related issues, according to three people briefed on the US strategy.

Because of her connections in the private sector and her deep knowledge of the oil sector, Rodriguez is considered one of the most pragmatic members of Maduro’s inner circle.

Rodriguez has publicly contradicted Trump on his claims that she is willing to work with the US. But despite her loyalist rhetoric, the Trump administration continues to signal an interest in working with her, albeit with some veiled threats.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US will judge Rodríguez on what she does moving forward as acting president more than her words. "We're going to make an assessment on the basis of what they do, not what they say publicly in the interim," he told CBS News show "Face the Nation" on Sunday.

Trump, meanwhile, warned that Rodriguez could face a fate worse than Maduro's if she failed to heed US demands.

"If she doesn't do what's right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro," Trump told "The Atlantic" magazine.

Targeted by US, EU sanctions

Venezuela's military – which had repeatedly vowed loyalty to Maduro – recognised Rodriguez as the country's interim leader on Sunday. A day later, the Supreme Court swore her in to serve as president "in an acting capacity" – the first woman to hold the post in the country, even if temporarily.

"She has probably been one of Maduro's most trusted people over the years," political analyst Pedro Benitez of the Central University of Venezuela told AFP.

Rodriguez was among the Venezuelan officials targeted by US sanctions during the first Trump administration. The US levied sanctions on Rodríguez in 2018, naming her as one of the Maduro loyalists helping him "maintain his grip on power" and blocking her entry to the United States as well as any financial transactions involving American entities.

Rodriguez was subject to EU sanctions that same year, with the bloc accusing her of undermining "democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela".

As oil minister, she faced the challenge of maximising Venezuela's oil trade while navigating US sanctions on the industry.

Rodriguez comes from a long line of leftist political activists. Her brother,Jorge Rodriguez, is the head of Venezuela's parliament and a United Socialist Party of Venezuela insider. Their father was a Marxist activist who died in custody in 1976 under a then centre-left government.

The siblings "have been involved in every internal maneuver in which Maduro has pushed out any power centres that cast a shadow over him", Benitez said.

"The emotional fuel that got them where they are has to do with revenge," he added, notably their father's death.

Another political scientist, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said it would be a challenge for Rodriguez to recast herself as a moderate politician, given this history.

Rodriguez served as a lawmaker for many years before being taken up in successive Chavista governments, helped by her brother.

"She didn't have a political base of her own," according to Benitez.

But she soon proved herself a full-blooded Chavista and became a Maduro confidante.

From 2020 to 2024, while serving as both vice president and economy minister, Rodriguez cooled her incendiary rhetoric to make inroads with Venezuela's business community, long demonised by socialist leaders. She eased trade controls in the de facto dollarised economy, providing a breather for business leaders who still view her as a savvy economic manager.

While some hailed her practical approach, detractors called her cynical.

Future elections in question

Rodriguez will remain the country's acting president at least until elections are organised, which according to the country's constitution should take place within 30 days. But Trump has already indicated that timeline is moot.

"We have to fix the country first. You can’t have an election. There’s no way the people could even vote," Trump said in an NBC News interview on Monday, the day Rodriguez was sworn in.

"No, it’s going to take a period of time. We have, we have to nurse the country back to health," he added.

Trump also dispelled hopes among many Venezuelans that the country might definitively turn the page on the Chavez-Maduro era by holding a free election that could see right-wing opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado take the presidency.

Trump asserted that Machado did not have sufficient "support or respect" in the country to become president, despite her being Maduro's most credible opponent. Machado was barred from challenging Maduro in the last election in July 2024.

Machado “doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect,” Trump told reporters.

A Machado-backed candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, "overwhelmingly" beat Maduro, according to international assessments, but the electoral commission quickly declared Maduro the victor despite "no supporting evidence", according to the US State Department. The US later recognised Gonzalez as the rightful president-elect and helped Machado go into hiding.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and Reuters)