Delcy Rodriguez Becomes New Venezuelan President: The Challenges She Faces

Hours after US forces invaded Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, his trusted lieutenant, Delcy Rodriguez, stepped in and was sworn in as the leader of the country. Rodriguez faces the twin challenge of claiming control at home and negotiating terms with US President Donald Trump.

She inherits the leadership of a Bolivarian revolution built on a core belief of opposition to American imperialism. At the same time, US warships remain stationed in the Caribbean, and the Trump administration has made clear it is prepared to use force to bend her to its will.

Trump warned that Rodriguez could "pay a very big price, probably bigger than" Maduro's if she refused to cooperate. This threat stood in sharp contrast to Trump's earlier comments suggesting she would act as a partner in allowing the United States to manage Venezuela.

Within hours of those remarks, Rodriguez called the capture of Maduro a "barbarity."

Rodriguez was speaking to her own political base, the Bolivarian movement, which remains deeply hostile to the United States and also to Israel, a long-standing American ally.

Venezuela's tensions with Israel date back to former president Hugo Chavez, who severed diplomatic ties in 2009 and expelled the Israeli ambassador. On Saturday, Rodriguez described the US intervention as being "without a doubt, Zionist in character," as per The NY Times.

Rodriguez is widely regarded as relatively competent on economic management, a key reason the Trump administration did not block her rise to the presidency.

She must now navigate a treacherous internal power structure dominated by figures like Diosdado Cabello, the interior minister, and Padrino Lopez, who together control the armed forces, police, paramilitary groups, and much of the intelligence apparatus.

US officials have told Rodriguez they want three immediate steps: a crackdown on drug trafficking, the expulsion of Iranian, Cuban, and other hostile operatives, and an end to oil sales to US adversaries, as per Politico.

The United States is maintaining its blockade of sanctioned oil tankers and has pledged to continue striking vessels suspected of carrying drugs. While US officials say they expect Rodriguez to eventually facilitate free elections and step aside, they say there are no fixed deadlines and no elections planned in the near term.

Inside the country, the political picture is further muddied by Edmundo Gonzalez, the exiled former diplomat widely seen as the legitimate winner of the 2024 presidential election, who released a video calling himself Venezuela's president and commander in chief of the military. Washington believes it holds enormous leverage, from military force to sanctions relief and even Rodriguez's overseas financial assets.