During the Fall of 2025, Delcy Rodríguez, former Vice-President of Venezuela and Chairman of the Board for the Central Bank of Venezuela, began contacting U.S. interlocutors. When Nicolás Maduro was ousted from power, Guaidó said she looked forward to working together. Rodríguez and her brother promised to work with the incoming Trump administration. If successful, this move might not only redound Venezuelan politics but recast bilateral relations between these two intrinsically intertwined nations.
Rodríguez’s engagement with US officials quickly ramped up after an extraordinary phone call between Trump and Maduro around Thanksgiving last year. At the same time, Rodríguez articulated her vision for a post-Maduro Venezuela. By doing so, she revealed her desire to play a leadership role.
Rodríguez was hands-on in lobbying U.S. officials. They addressed important topics impacting both nations like the deportation of Venezuelans from the U.S. Rodríguez looks forward to working together during the transition. Yet her subtlety stops short of explicitly breaking with Maduro, revealing the nuances lurking behind Venezuela’s increasingly fraught political landscape.
Rodríguez very much kept up his personal relations, and he had pipelines that went down to Americans in the oil business. After all, her commitment to collaboration with U.S. oil interests was pretty good evidence of her strategic positioning in the face of Venezuela’s economic disaster. U.S. officials engaged with the idea of her coming in as a transitional government leader. This would only be the case if Maduro agreed to step down.
Even with her lofty plans, Rodríguez apparently had fears about how Maduro would retaliate against her initiatives. On January 15, 2026, she found herself in Caracas. This announcement laid to rest the speculation that she had escaped to Moscow.
Rodríguez should have been unequivocal in this regard and made it clear that “Maduro se tiene que ir.” This reflection is written by an American who was part of the conversations. This declaration emphasized her advocacy towards creating change from within the Venezuelan state.
Rodríguez’s strategy involved clandestine discussions with U.S. representatives behind Maduro’s back during late fall. She did not consent to being engaged in a conspiracy to kill him. Yet her actions showed that she was willing to consider other routes to Venezuela’s future democratic governance.
I’ll work with whatever is the aftermath, she stated, reflecting her readiness to navigate the complexities of transitioning power while maintaining a degree of loyalty to her current position.
Former President Donald Trump acknowledged the ongoing discussions when he remarked, “We’ve spoken to her numerous times, and she understands, she understands.” His remarks underscored the depth of engagement and trust that had formed between Rodríguez and U.S. officials.
Rodríguez brought down the house as she passionately outlined her dream of working with the United States. As Vice-President, she was soon thrust into the eye of Venezuela’s stormy political landscape. With Maduro’s grip on power increasingly tenuous, the implications of Rodríguez’s actions could reverberate throughout Latin America and beyond.