Delcy Rodríguez Consolidates Power With Military And Ministerial Changes In Venezuela

Four months after Nicolás Maduro’s capture, Delcy Rodríguez and her brother Jorge have moved to consolidate power through ministerial and military changes, according to Le Grand Continent and El Mundo.

“Interview with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado: 'The only thing that sustains the regime and Delcy Rodríguez is repression”

ABC

Le Grand Continent says that on January 7, four days after the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro, Rodríguez replaced the commander of the Presidential Guard, Javier Marcano Tabata, with Gustavo González López, who is now also in charge of military counterintelligence.

ABC

It adds that Rodríguez named Calixto Ortega Vice President for Economic Affairs, and that Hannibal Coronado was replaced by Freddy Ñáñez at the Ministry of Eco-Socialism on January 16 before being assigned to the Transport Ministry.

The same source reports that the philosopher and columnist Miguel Pérez Pirela was named to the Communications Ministry, replacing Ñáñez, and that Rodríguez also replaced the heads of the La Carlota military base in Caracas and the El Libertador base in Aragua.

El Mundo frames the reshuffle as a dismantling of the Maduro regime to impose the Rodríguez circle of loyalists and technocrats, describing a “broad reshuffle inside the government” and “the substitution of about twenty ministers.”

It also says Rodríguez confirmed her favorite jurist, Larry Devoe, as Attorney General and that Delcy replaced prosecutor Tarek William Saab with Larry Devoe.

In the same account, El Mundo ties the appointments to a strategy of courting the United States, including “appointments endorsed from Washington,” and it points to the replacement of Padrino López with González López in Defense.

Le Grand Continent links the post-capture reshuffle to a push for oil reform and to Washington’s leverage over Venezuela’s political and economic direction.

It says Caracas is pursuing an oil reform pushed by Washington to attract new private capital, and it describes a bill that gives the Ministry of Oil broad flexibility to adjust taxes and royalties depending on the nature and profitability of the projects.

BBC

The same source reports that the bill authorizes a possible reduction of the tax on oil revenues to preserve yields, eases arbitration rules to reassure foreign investors, and allows private companies to sell their share of production at market prices under official supervision.

It adds that the Trump administration continues to impose oil sanctions on the country, and it quotes Rodríguez’s speech delivered Sunday, January 25, where she said she was “tired of Washington's orders to Venezuelan politicians.”

Le Grand Continent also reports that under Washington’s pressure, Rodríguez would have released 258 political prisoners since January 8, while Venezuelan NGOs recorded 1,112, and it contrasts that with Rodríguez’s cited figure of 626 political prisoners released.

The source further says that during a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, January 28, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated it would be up to Washington to decide how funds would be spent after Caracas presented a “budget.”

It also states that Rubio warned in prepared remarks that a new use of force was not ruled out if Washington’s demands were not met by Rodríguez.

In parallel, El Mundo describes the Rodríguez circle’s appointments as attempts to court the United States, including the replacement of Padrino López with González López in Defense, and it portrays the broader political realignment as tied to deadlines imposed from Washington.

María Corina Machado portrays the Rodríguez government as sustained by repression and says the regime is unraveling under pressure, while describing protests that have taken Caracas’ streets for the first time in many years.

“Venezuela: Delcy Rodríguez confirms her favorite jurist, Larry Devoe, as Attorney General”

El Mundo

In an interview carried by ABC, Machado says: “The only thing that sustains the regime and Delcy Rodríguez is repression,” and she adds that “the Spanish government has chosen to maintain a position of second or third line, in some cases even complacent with some actors.”

She describes meeting Donald Trump at the White House after handing him the Nobel Peace Prize medal, and she says she trusts he will complete “the liberation of Venezuela.”

Machado argues that the regime is being forced to reduce repressive capabilities, telling ABC: “We are facing a situation in which the regime is clearly unraveling and is being forced to reduce its repressive capabilities.”

She says the protests are unprecedented, stating: “there are demonstrations in Venezuela, something truly unprecedented in a long time; we are not used to protests against the regime.”

She links the shift to “January 3,” saying “without the fact that Maduro is being judged by the justice system of the United States” the changes would not have happened.

Machado also says that in January “there have been more than 35 new detentions, 14 of which are still detained,” and she asserts there are “still more than 750 political prisoners in our country.”

In the same ABC interview, she insists that there can be no repression in a transition, saying: “because in a transition there can be no repression,” and she states she is sure Rodríguez has “days numbered.”

The BBC describes a period of contradictory messaging around who is in charge in Venezuela and how Delcy Rodríguez is responding to renewed threats from Donald Trump.

It says that after Trump announced that the United States would lead Venezuela until a “safe, proper, and prudent transition,” he also said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been speaking with Delcy Rodríguez, who was “basically willing to do whatever we deem necessary to make Venezuela great again.”

Le Grand Continent

The BBC reports that at first Rodríguez did not appear cooperative at her own press conference, where she denounced Maduro’s detention as a kidnapping and stressed that Venezuela would not become a colony, adding: “What is being done to Venezuela is a barbarity.”

It then quotes Rodríguez’s later conciliatory message, saying: “Venezuela reaffirms its vocation for peace and peaceful coexistence,” and “We consider it a priority to move toward a balanced and respectful international relationship between the U.S. and Venezuela.”

The BBC also says Trump directed a threatening message to her during an interview with The Atlantic, stating that if Rodríguez does not do the right thing, she will “pay a very high price, probably higher than Nicolás Maduro.”

It frames the constitutional question by stating: “According to the Venezuelan Constitution, in the absence of the president, it is the vice president who assumes office,” and it notes that the Venezuelan Supreme Court’s decision that Delcy Rodríguez be acting president seemed logical.

The BBC further recounts that the United States did not recognize Nicolás Maduro as legitimate after alleging that the 2024 elections had been rigged, and it says copies of tallies compiled by the opposition and reviewed by the Carter Center suggested Edmundo González won by an overwhelming majority.

It also states that the U.S. president surprised reporters by saying Machado did not have the necessary support or respect to lead the country, while Rubio had spoken with Delcy Rodríguez.

Beyond the immediate post-capture governance fight, NTN24 and Partido Popular voices focus on legal process and the political meaning of Rodríguez’s amnesty law.

“"There is no honest process": former Venezuelan ambassador to Canada on Delcy Rodríguez's Amnesty Law The acting head of the Venezuelan regime, Delcy Rodríguez, recently described as 'petty' sectors of the opposition and critics who continue to demand the application of the Amnesty Law”

NTN24

NTN24 quotes Orlando Viera-Blanco, former Venezuelan ambassador to Canada, criticizing Delcy Rodríguez’s description of opposition critics as “petty” and arguing: “This is not a matter of pettiness; there are many political actors who are still being subjected to criminal proceedings.”

NTN24

The diplomat says the amnesty “does not adhere to the criteria of non-selectivity and discretion... There is no honest process,” and NTN24 reports that Rodríguez announced on April 24 the “end” of the Amnesty Law for Democratic Coexistence after “barely 64 days in effect since its approval in February of the same year.”

It adds that although the initiative aimed at the release of political prisoners and reconciliation, the measure ended up generating controversy over pending cases.

In Spain, Partido Popular’s Deputy Secretary for Institutional Regeneration, speaking on Hoy por Hoy on Cadena SER and La Hora on La 1 (TVE), celebrates Maduro’s capture as “crystal-clear good news” and says “To decapitate a dictator is, without a doubt, a historic event.”

The PP representative insists that “They cannot today appeal to the rule of law and therefore to international law who have tolerated, enabled and aided Maduro's criminal regime,” and demands “the release of all those political prisoners in Venezuela's jails, including about twenty Spaniards.”

The PP statement also rejects Delcy Rodríguez leading a political transition, saying: “We must not forget that in July 2024 there was an electoral process in Venezuela and, just as Maduro did not have democratic legitimacy, Delcy does not either.”

It argues that democratic legitimacy is given by ballots and emphasizes that those ballots were given to Edmundo González and María Corina Machado by Venezuelans in July 2024, with Edmundo González recognized as legitimate in Europe and in the Congress of Deputies “with the vote against the Socialist Party.”