4 min readJan 4, 2026 12:35 PM IST
First published on: Jan 4, 2026 at 11:18 AM IST
Venezuela News Today: With President Nicolas Maduro in US’s custody after his dramatic capture on Saturday, Venezuela’s top court has ordered Vice President Delcy Rodriguez to take over as interim president.
Rodriguez served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018 and was next in line for the President’s post after Maduro. However, her appointment is also expected to trigger a power struggle with opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who recently won the Nobel Prize and is widely believed to secure a landslide victory in any free and fair election.
Who is Delcy Rodriguez?
Serving as a vice president to Nicolas Maduro since 2018, Delcy Rodriguez ran much of the country’s oil-based economy and overseeing its feared intelligence service. Rodriguez is a lawyer trained in Britain and France and has long represented the Chavez revolution abroad.
Here are 6 things to know about Delcy Rodriguez
- She and her brother Jorge Rodriguez who leads the Maduro-backed National Assembly, come from a well-known leftist family.
- Their father, Jorge Antonio Rodriguez , a socialist leader, died in police custody in the 1970s, a case that shaped figures such as Nicolas Maduro.
- Unlike many in Maduro’s circle, the Rodríguez siblings face no US criminal charges.
- Fluent in English, Rodríguez is often seen as educated and market-friendly, unlike hard-line military figures from the Chavez era.
- Delcy Rodríguez has built links with Republicans in the oil industry and with those in the US who oppose US-led regime change.
- Her past contacts include Blackwater founder Erik Prince and Trump envoy Richard Grenell, who sought a deal with Maduro for greater US influence.
US President Donald Trump said Delcy Rodríguez had already been sworn in as Venezuela’s president under the constitution. However, state television showed no swearing-in ceremony.
As per a report by the Associated Press, during her televised address, a ticker still called her the vice president. She gave no sign of working with the US and did not reply to requests for comment. She called the US action illegal.
“This is an atrocity that violates international law,” she said, adding that those who backed the attack would ‘pay’.
Venezuelan Vice President and Oil Minister Delcy Rodriguez gives a press conference at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
Rodriguez wants ‘a proof of life’ for Maduro and his wife
Earlier in the day, Rodriguez demanded in audio played on Venezuelan state TV that the US provide “proof of life” for Maduro and his wife after President Donald Trump said the pair had been captured by the US military operation.
“We demand that President Donald Trump’s government provide immediate proof of life for President Maduro and the First Lady,” Rodriguez said, according to Reuters.
Where are Rodriguez and Machado?
Both of Rodriguez and Machado’s current locations remain unknown. Reports claim Rodriguez is currently in Russia, but Moscow has denied this. Four sources familiar with her movements told Reuters that the information was correct, even as Russia’s foreign ministry dismissed the report as ‘fake’.
Meanwhile, Machado’s whereabouts are under speculation after she left Norway in mid-December following the Nobel Prize ceremony.
The US has claimed to have attacked Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro, throwing the country into political chaos. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) 
Venezuelan Vice President and Oil Minister Delcy Rodriguez gives a press conference at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
Share
