Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez

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—while blocking democratic elections. On February 12, the National Assembly unanimously approved a general amnesty law covering political prisoners detained since 1999, which Rodríguez signed into law on February 20, potentially freeing over 600 detainees. However, the law excludes those convicted of inciting foreign military intervention, a provision that could bar opposition leader María Corina Machado from amnesty and prosecution. In an NBC News interview on February 12, Rodríguez pledged 'free and fair' elections but refused to set a timeline, conditioning them on Venezuela being 'free from sanctions' and international pressure. She also warned that Machado would 'have to answer to Venezuela' for calling for military intervention and sanctions—effectively signaling prosecution if Machado returns.

Updated Feb 20

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 and forced him into unmarked vehicles. The government now says he violated release conditions and has been placed under house arrest.

Updated Feb 9

Force in Play

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

Congress last declared war in 1942. Since then, presidents have ordered military strikes 212 times without formal declarations—but never quite like this. On January 3, 2026, U.S. special forces raided the Venezuelan capital, captured President Nicolás Maduro in his residence, and flew him to New York to face narcoterrorism charges. Eleven days later, Vice President JD Vance cast the deciding vote to kill a Senate resolution that would have required congressional authorization for further military action. Now, over a month after the raid, the operation faces mounting legal challenges: Maduro's defense team filed motions on February 4 questioning the federal court's jurisdiction over the extraordinary rendition case, while the International Court of Justice and UN human rights bodies have issued statements characterizing the operation as a violation of international law.

Updated Feb 6

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 and Acting President Delcy Rodríguez signed legislation reversing that policy—allowing private companies to independently operate oil fields, market crude, and settle disputes in international courts. The bill was submitted on January 15, debated on January 23, and signed into law on January 29—just 14 days from introduction to enactment. As Rodríguez signed the law, the U.S. Treasury Department issued General License 46, authorizing established U.S. energy companies to engage in Venezuelan oil activities but explicitly excluding entities from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, or Cuba.

Updated Feb 5

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 on January 16, 2026, when Italy assumed custodianship—a shift triggered by Brazil's opposition to the U.S. military operation that captured Maduro two weeks earlier, and accelerated by Argentine President Javier Milei's sustained social media attacks on Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Updated Feb 3

Force in Play

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

At 2 a.m. on January 3, Delta Force operators dragged Nicolás Maduro and his wife from their bedroom in Caracas. Seven explosions rocked Venezuela's capital as US special forces helicopters evacuated the captured president to the USS Iwo Jima, bound for New York to face narco-terrorism charges. 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. Venezuela's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced on January 7 that 100 people were killed in the operation, including Venezuelan military personnel, 32 Cuban forces, and civilians. Two US personnel were injured and one helicopter was hit. On January 5, Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty before Judge Alvin Hellerstein, declaring 'I am innocent' and 'I am still the president of my country,' with their next court date set for March 17. On January 13, the Justice Department released a previously classified memo concluding the president possessed constitutional authority to order the military operation. By January 29, Venezuela's military and police formally pledged loyalty to interim President Delcy Rodríguez at a ceremony in Caracas.

Updated Jan 31

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. His wife Cilia Flores—indicted for the first time—sits in the cell next to him with fractured ribs and head injuries from the raid. On January 5, both pleaded not guilty. Maduro told the judge he remains Venezuela's president and declared himself a 'prisoner of war.'

Updated Jan 5