Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez

Force in Play

Managing US demands while maintaining Chavista power structure

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa walked free from prison on February 8, 2026, after nearly nine months behind bars. Hours later, heavily armed men in civilian clothes seized him from his Caracas home, forced him into unmarked vehicles, and the government now says he violated release conditions and has been placed under house arrest.

Updated 2 days ago

Rule Changes

Acting President; signed historic oil reform into law on January 29, 2026

Hugo Chávez nationalized Venezuela's oil sector in 2007, expropriating assets from ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, and other foreign companies. Nineteen years later, less than a month after U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's National Assembly passed legislation reversing that policy. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez signed it into law.

Updated 3 days ago

Force in Play

Acting President of Venezuela; balancing domestic Chavista support against U.S. pressure

Congress hasn't declared war since 1942, though presidents have ordered 212 military strikes without formal declarations. On January 3, 2026, U.S. special forces raided Venezuela, captured President Nicolás Maduro in his residence, and flew him to New York to face narcoterrorism charges.

Updated 7 days ago

Force in Play

Interim President consolidating power; pledged elections without timeline; invited to Washington; signed amnesty law February 20

Seven weeks after U.S. special forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has consolidated interim power through military loyalty pledges, oil privatization, and prisoner releases. In an NBC interview on February 12, she pledged 'free and fair' elections but refused to set a timeline, conditioning them on Venezuela being 'free from sanctions'.

Updated 7 days ago

Force in Play

In office since January 3, 2026

Brazil protected Argentina's embassy in Caracas for 14 months after Nicolás Maduro expelled Argentine diplomats in July 2024. That arrangement ended January 16, 2026, when Italy assumed custodianship. The shift was triggered by Brazil's opposition to the U.S. military operation that captured Maduro two weeks earlier, and accelerated by Argentine President Milei's sustained social media attacks on Brazilian President Lula.

Updated May 21

Force in Play

Sworn in as interim president January 5, 2026; initially defiant but shifted to conciliatory tone after Trump threats

Delta Force dragged Nicolás Maduro from his bedroom at 2 AM on January 3, threw him on a helicopter, and flew him to the USS Iwo Jima bound for Manhattan. The Venezuelan president now faces narco-terrorism charges in the same courthouse that convicted El Chapo.

Updated May 19

Force in Play

Acting President of Venezuela; military and police pledged loyalty Jan 29; signed oil investment reform Jan 29

Delta Force operators captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife in Caracas at 2 a.m. on January 3 as explosions rocked the capital and helicopters evacuated them to the USS Iwo Jima, bound for New York. By Saturday afternoon, Maduro arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn—the first American military capture of a sitting head of state since Manuel Noriega in 1989.

Updated May 19