Delcy Rodríguez, a week in charge of a Venezuela under Trump’s scrutiny

Redacción América.- One week after being sworn in as acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez has been imposing a discreet pace of government, which seeks to keep alive the ties with President Nicolás Maduro and the legacy of the late ruler Hugo Chávez, while trying to build bridges with the Donald Trump Administration.

In eight days, with a style less prone to media exposure, Rodríguez has replaced Maduro’s extensive speeches and televised programs with communiqués, specific statements from the Minister of Communication and Information, Freddy Ñáñez, and events with brief interventions. He has also not been seen in the numerous marches called by Chavismo to reject the American military attack and to demand the release of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, whose detention has been rejected by the Chavista leader.

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On his first day in office, for example, he visited the Mountain Barracks, where the remains of Chávez, considered the father of the Bolivarian revolution, rest.

«There is a Government»

“Here there is a Government that rules in Venezuela, here there is an acting president and there is a president held hostage in the United States,” Rodríguez affirmed this Monday, when responding to caricatures that he claimed to have seen on Wikipedia about “who rules in Venezuela.” The Chavista leader – who claims to govern “together with the organized people” – thus alluded to a post by the US president on Truth Social, where he posted on Sunday a manipulated image of his Wikipedia profile, in which he is attributed the position of “interim president of Venezuela” as of January 2026. Trump has not spared, in the meantime, threats towards the Rodríguez Administration.

“If he doesn’t do what is right, he’s going to pay a very high price, probably higher than Maduro’s,” Trump stated in an interview broadcast on January 4 by The Atlantis magazine, one day after U.S. planes and helicopters attacked areas of Caracas and neighboring points and took the Venezuelan president and his wife.

A New Relationship

After a week in office, the relationship with Washington has taken a different turn, although, according to Rodríguez, always within “international relations of respect and the framework of international legality.” On January 7th, the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) confirmed a negotiation process with the United States for the sale of “volumes” of crude oil, one day after Trump assured that the Caracas Executive is willing to deliver 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to them. One day later, Jorge Rodríguez, brother of the acting president and chief negotiator of Chavismo, announced the release of “a significant number of people”, including Venezuelans and foreigners, without specifying the number.

That same day, flanked by the high military command, Rodríguez paid tribute to the Venezuelan and Cuban military personnel who died in the American attack, in an act in which he shook hands, embraced, and spoke with the families of the uniformed personnel.

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Finally, on Friday, January 9, both Governments confirmed the sending of delegations of diplomats from Washington and Caracas to explore the possibility of reopening their embassies. «Progress is being made in the restart and opening of the embassies of Venezuela in the US and the US in Venezuela, that will allow us to have consular representation so that they can be watching over the safety and tranquility of our president Nicolás Maduro and Cilia», said this Monday the second in command of Chavismo, Diosdado Cabello, who has given his support to Rodríguez while demanding the return of the presidential couple.