Delcy Rodríguez has been the interim president of Venezuela since January of this year.
She served as Vice-President under Nicolás Maduro.
Her father, a guerilla fighter, was murdered when Delcy was only 7. He had been a founder of the Socialist League in Venezuela.
Rodríguez entered politics in the early 2000s. It has been suggested that the 2002 coup attempt against Hugo Chávez was a crucial event for her – one that pushed her towards entering politics.
By 2006 she was a Minister. She reportedly had a tense relationship with Chávez. He died in 2013.
Under his successor, Maduro, her star continued to rise.
She has served as Minister for Communication and Information, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Economy and Finance, and Minister of Petroleum and Hydrocarbons.
Some regard Rodríguez as a technocrat.
Rodríguez recently signed an agreement that would give the US access to billions of barrels of Venezuelan oil.
It raises the question – has Venezuela retained sovereignty over its own resources?
Rodríguez has framed this as investment rather than plunder. She has said that opportunities from the agreement are “endless”. The way she describes it, the deal is more about gaining technological assistance in order to unlock the reserves sitting under the ground.
Donald Trump has warned her to follow his lead. His words can not simply be discarded as empty threats. He has already taken military action against her predecessor. In one of the of the most astounding decisions of his time in office, Trump authorised US military forces to enter Venezuela and forcibly remove the sitting president.
The gloves were off.
It was a move that astounded observers. Trump had thrown away the rulebook of diplomacy and acted as if might was right.
The Venezuelan armed forces didn’t see it coming. They might be better prepared next time around, but would they be able to fend off a second attack? It is very difficult to beat a motivated US military.
The US was already tightening the screws on Venezuela, even before the mission to capture Maduro.
The US military had been blowing up ships off the Venezuelan coast, alleging that they were involved in drug running.
Many details of the recent oil agreement with the US are unknown.
Is this a new wave of colonialism, or neocolonialism?
The US does not want to put boots on the ground and it doesn’t want to physically occupy Venezuela.
But it does want to benefit economically from controlling oil there.
Venezuelan oil is even more crucial at present, given the ongoing conflict with Iran and problems in shipping oil through the Straight of Hormuz.
By acting decisively in Venezuela, Trump is reasserting a kind of Monroe Doctrine. While he doesn’t put it in those terms, his strong use of force in Venezuela is a way of saying that the Western Hemisphere is within the American sphere of influence and other superpowers meddling in the region will not be tolerated.
US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, seems to be taking a close interest in all matters Venezuelan.
He is the son of Cuban migrants. He has little sympathy for leftist regimes in the region. This distaste for these regimes began with Cuba and has expanded to regimes across the continent.
Exerting control over the Venezuelan regime has significant effects across the Western Hemisphere.
Firstly, it constrains Venezuela itself.
Hugo Chávez was a thorn in the side of US administrations, even if much of his rhetoric was bluster. Still, Chávez’s commentary provided leftists in the region with inspiration. That rhetoric is now muted.
Venezuela supplied Cuba with oil. By turning off the tap, regime change in Cuba becomes more of a prospect.
Previous Venezuelan regimes have been much more partial to China and Russia than is currently the case. Recent US actions lead to a relative loss of power in the region for these countries.
Rodríguez seems to have changed her tune since the removal of Maduro.
In a 2024 speech, she accused the political opposition in Venezuela of wanting to surrender resources to Washington.
She is now singing from a very different playbook.
Is Rodríguez the legitimate president of her country? Even this is contested.
The last Presidential election was in 2024. Maduro was declared the winner, but the results are disputed.
There were parliamentary elections in 2025. The Maduro-aligned coalition overwhelmingly won the most seats, however the main opposition coalition boycotted the election.
Much is disputed. Maduro was acting as president on the basis of the 2024 election. Rodríguez herself rose to the position of president as a result of the removal of Maduro. She has never a won a presidential election in her own right.
There are many questions.
Is Rodríguez the legitimate ruler of Venezuela?
Is her party the legitimate ruling party of Venezuela?
Should the deal signed with US be considered legitimate, entered into by a government that truly represents the will of the Venezuelan people?.
Consider Maria Corina Machado, recent winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. She wasn’t allowed to run in the 2024 presidential election. She decided to support a boycott of the 2025 parliamentary election.
She symbolically gave her Nobel Prize to Trump following the military action against Maduro.
At the time, Machado thought that Trump was a champion of Venezuelan democracy. She may well have a different spin on it now. Her aims and Trump’s aims are not one and the same. Trump seems much more interested in ensuring access to Venezuelan oil than in shoring up the nation’s democracy. Trump is content to let the rump of the Chavista regime remain as long as it delivers on oil.
Rodríguez’s recent deal with the US has prompted critics to label her a sellout or a turncoat.
What are Rodríguez’s true political beliefs? Does she even have any? That she is a leftist is something of which we can be quite certain. He father’s background and her studies in labor law point towards leftist sympathies.
A more interesting question is what kind of leftist is she? Does she favour diplomatic relationships with as wide a cross section of states as possible or just those that align with a narrow ideology?
Does she want to engage with Western states or does she want to shun them?
Does she favour relations with the US or with Russia and China?
Does she favour integration with the world economy or not?
Does she want to export revolution in the region or not?
Does she favour confrontation, conciliation or coexistence?
Different experiences in Rodríguez’s past point to different things.
Her childhood experiences points towards socialist or Marxist sympathies.
Her studies point in a similar direction. But there is another aspect to her studies. She has experience living in France and the UK – both liberal Western European states. So she has some understanding of how Western states operate. She has some exposure to how European countries conduct themselves. But mere exposure doesn’t guarantee that she would adopt the same approach.
It may be difficult to arrive at definitive conclusions about Rodríguez’s true beliefs. That is because she is currently operating under thumb of the US. Her ability to act freely is constrained.
Before the recent US military action, Rodríguez portrayed herself as a fierce protector of the nation – someone who stood up for the right of Venezuela to self-determination and independence.
For the time being at least, her wings have been clipped.
Her true beliefs remain elusive. Previously, her views seemed much closer to those of Chávez or Maduro. But was she just mimicking them to secure her own progression or political survival?
What will her long-term prospects be?
If she reverts to the approach of Chávez or Maduro, any time soon, it will arouse anger in Washington and she is likely to face removal by one means or another.
At the same time, she is likely to face growing anger from Venezuelans as they see that Washington is calling the shots.
Until now, she has played a game that has ensured her political survival.
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