The Power Shift: Delcy Rodríguez Takes the Helm
On the morning of January 3, the first bombs fell, signaling the end of Nicolás Maduro’s presidency. The sounds of helicopters, explosions, and chaos awakened Venezolans to the unexpected outcome of this U.S.-led incursion: Maduro was no longer their president.
Maduro, along with his wife Cilia Flores, was captured and transported to New York to face charges of narcotrafficking.
Delcy Rodríguez, who served as vice president and is now leading the transition under pressure from President Donald Trump, maintains chavismo in power, albeit conditioned by Washington. This is described as a “tutelary stability” by Guillermo Tell Aveledo, a political science professor at the Metropolitan University.
Trump praised Rodríguez as “formidable” and invited her to the White House, though a specific date has yet to be set. He stated on January 14 that “everything is going well with Venezuela” following their first call.
Both countries are working to resume relations that were severed by Maduro in 2019, although U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Maduro’s fate could be similar if he fails to align with Washington’s goals.
Rodríguez met with the new head of the U.S. diplomatic mission, Laura Dogu, on Monday, who emphasized the importance of “transition” in their agenda.
Opening Up the Oil Industry
Venezuela approved a reform to its petroleum law, as per U.S. instructions, according to analysts.
This reform overturns the 1976 nationalization and particularly Hugo Chávez’s state-centric model established three decades later. Private companies can now operate independently, not just as minority shareholders in joint ventures with the state-owned PDVSA.
Trump’s plan is to attract investments from U.S. petroleum companies like Chevron.
