Post-Maduro Venezuela: Why does Donald Trump support Delcy Rodriguez?

LatamSinFiltro
Feb 26
6 min read

On January 5, 2026, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez assumed the presidency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela following the capture and extradition by the U.S, three days earlier, of President Nicolas Maduro.

Until then, Donald Trump had supported Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader. However, after Maduro's capture, the US president publicly declared his support for the new chavista President.

Who is Delcy Rodriguez?

Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez is a Venezuelan lawyer and politician. She has been part of the Chavista government since 2006.

She served as Minister of the Presidency of Venezuela under Hugo Chávez. During Nicolás Maduro’s presidency, she was Minister of Communication and Information; Minister of Foreign Affairs; Minister of Economy; and Minister of Hydrocarbons.

She was finally appointed Vice President of the Republic in 2018 and held this position until the capture of Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026.

Following this event and according to Article 233 of the Constitution, Delcy Rodriguez became President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

His father, Jorge Antonio Rodriguez, was the founder of the Venezuelan Marxist organization Liga Socialista (“Socialist league” in English), created in 1969. His brother, Jorge Rodriguez, was also part of the Chavista government between 2017 and 2020.

Indeed, Delcy and his brother's political vision and ideas most likely come from their father. Jorge was a left-wing revolutionary. In 1976, he participated in the hostage-taking of an American businessman. He was subsequently captured by one of Venezuela's former intelligence services, DISIP (active from 1969 to 2009), and tortured to death.

Why didn't the White House decide to support Maria Corina Machado to succeed Nicolas Maduro?

maria corina machado venezuela — Maria Corina Machado

It is important to understand that the United States' goal is not to reestablish democracy in Venezuela. Their goal is to access Venezuela’s oil reserves. The United States does not need a democracy to have access to oil. They just need a means of exerting pressure. Here their means of exerting pressure is a hostage: President Maduro.

It should also be highlighted that under Hugo Chávez, the United States was the main buyer of Venezuelan oil. In addition, under Maduro’s regime, the American company Chevron continued to operate in Venezuela despite the sanctions imposed by the United States.

On one hand, the United States can pressure Delcy Rodríguez and the Chavista government to implement all the necessary reforms to obtain access to oil. On the other hand, the Rodríguez government is following White House directives in the hope of seeing Maduro return to Venezuela.

The United States possesses a real means of pressure and can also threaten the Venezuelan government with military intervention and the eradication of Chavism if their directives were to not be respected.

In order for Maria Corina Machado to regain power, since her party would in fact be the real winner of the last presidential elections, it would be necessary to restore democracy by force and cancel her arrest warrant.

It's far too long and complicated for Donald Trump, who only wants to profit from the world's largest oil reserves. It is much easier for the White House to maintain and pressure the Chavista government.

Once again, the United States is not seeking to restore democracy. Therefore, it has no direct interest in supporting Maria Corina Machado.

Is President Delcy Rodríguez in favor of democracy?

Since taking office, Delcy Rodríguez has announced reform of the hydrocarbons law and has also proposed an amnesty law to release political prisoners held under Maduro.

These decisions by the president lead us to believe that she is perhaps finally ready to accept a democratic transition but this is not necessarily true.

The reforms and laws announced are in reality a response to American pressure. All these decisions do not in any way jeopardize the survival of Chavism. The Rodriguez government hopes to see the return of President Maduro and is willing to implement the reforms "recommended" by the United States to ease tensions between the two countries.

The implementation of these laws and reforms allows the Chavistas to remain in power and allows the United States to have new access to Venezuelan oil. It is kind of a win-win situation. If the Chavistas were to show any reluctance, the United States could use President Maduro to exert pressure on them.

Delcy Rodriguez never mentioned the possibility of a democratic transition. Furthermore, the president stated temporary absence (“falta temporal” in Spanish) of President Maduro, which, as I will explain, shows that Rodriguez does not support democracy:

Professor Luis Gómez Romero, teacher of Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Case Law at the University of Wollongong (Australia) explains that Article 233 of the Venezuelan Constitution states that the vice-president must assume power in the event of “of absolute absence” (“falta absoluta” in Spanish) of the president. Thirty consecutive days after the declaration of this absence, new elections must be organized:

Article 233. The following will be considered as an absolute absence of the President or the President of the Republic :his death, his resignation or his dismissal decreed by a ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice, their permanent physical or mental disability certified by a medical institution appointed by the Supreme Court of Justice and approved by the National Assembly,abandonment of duties, declared as such by the National Assembly, as well as the popular revocation of his mandate.

(...)

If the President of the Republic is completely absent during the first four years of their constitutional term, a new universal, direct, and secret election will be held within thirty consecutive days. Pending the election and inauguration of the new President, the Executive Vice President will assume the presidency of the Republic.

(...)

However, the Chavista government ensured its survival by declaring only a temporary absence of President Nicolás Maduro, a principle mentioned in Article 234 of the Constitution:

Article 234. The temporary absences of the President of the Republic will be covered by the Executive Vice-President until ninety days, renewable by decision of the National Assembly for an additional ninety days. If a temporary absence lasts more than ninety consecutive days,The National Assembly will decide by majority vote whether it should be considered an absolute absence.

Vice President Delcy Rodríguez declared President Maduro temporarily absent, a decision valid for 90 days and renewable for another 90 days. At the end of the 180 days stipulated by law, the National Assembly will have to decide whether this absence remains temporary or if the president should be declared permanently absent.

Who do you think is the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela?

Well it’s Jorge Rodriguez, the president's brother.

Let's be honest, it is highly likely that the National Assembly will not declare President Maduro's complete absence so that Chavism continues to survive.

It is extremely important to understand that Chavism has several mechanisms to help it stay alive in case of a crisis:

There is a single party and no real opposition, a single leader who concentrates most of the power, propaganda, censorship, a powerful anti-imperialist narrative, a Chavista army that represses any form of opposition to the regime… All these mechanisms have allowed Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro to perpetuate Chavism throughout all these years despite the regime’s many failures, economic difficulties or sanctions imposed by the United States.

President Rodriguez's main goal is once again to keep Chavism alive. The capture of President Maduro by the United States allowed the government to exploit the typical anti-imperialist rhetoric to maintain the support of a segment of the Venezuelan population.

Theoretically, what the Chavista government is denouncing is legitimate : Donald Trump violated international law and trampled on Venezuela's sovereignty. However, as always, it's way more complex... If we were to truly talk about sovereignty in Venezuela, it would probably be more accurate to say that the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people was trampled on many years ago with the end of the democracy…but let’s keep that topic for a other article.

Back to Delcy Rodriguez —> The president remains faithful to Chavista principles and has so far shown no real intention of restoring democracy in Venezuela. She also does not support Donald Trump and denounces the actions of the United States, which perpetuate the anti-imperialist narrative, and continues to demand the release of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments!