What to know about Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s new president

What you probably already know: Venezuela has its first female president, though not in the way anyone imagined. Delcy Rodríguez, 56, assumed office Jan. 5 after the United States detained incumbent President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, two days earlier following months of conflict. Rodríguez had served as vice president for eight years and is considered a close ally of Maduro, who had served as president since 2013. Rodríguez, a member of the national leadership of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, is a longtime politician who has also served as Minister of Petroleum and Hydrocarbons and Minister of Economy and Finance. She began her political career in 2002 under former President Hugo Chávez.

Why it matters: She is a controversial figure, with some U.S. news outlets calling her “acting dictator” rather than acting president. Back in 2018, she was among a group of Venezuelan politicians — including Maduro and Flores — sanctioned by the U.S. for corruption and humanitarian issues. An analysis by the New York Center for Foreign Policy Affairs notes that she is the daughter of a Marxist guerilla leader who founded the Socialist League in the 1970s. His death in 1976 after being tortured in police custody strongly influenced her political leanings, as they did Maduro’s and others of her generation. The report notes that she is considered more pragmatic than many Venezuelan socialists, adding that “she pursued more orthodox policies to stabilize hyperinflation and engaged cautiously with parts of the private sector.”

What it means: Rodríguez was initially defiant toward the United States, calling on the U.S. to release Maduro, but has since softened her tone. President Trump says the U.S. is “dealing with the people who just got sworn in,” adding that, so far at least, Rodríguez, “is cooperating.” He also said, however, that “she will face a situation worse than Maduro” if that collaboration discontinues. Several media outlets reported that Trump didn’t back Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who challenged Maduro for the presidency in 2024 before the regime blocked her candidacy and forced her into hiding, for the presidency because he was jealous that she won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize instead of him.

What happens next: The Trump administration has threatened Rodríguez with retaliation unless she cracks down on the flow of drugs, kicks out operatives of countries hostile to the U.S. and stops the sale of oil to U.S. adversaries, Politco reports, adding that the U.S. expects her to resign once free elections are set, though there’s no timeline for that. As the New York Center for Foreign Policy Affairs puts it: “For now, Rodríguez stands at the center of Venezuela’s most volatile moment in decades — publicly loyal to Maduro, legally empowered by the courts, and claimed by Washington as a potential partner — even as she denounces its actions.”