Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez

Rule Changes

In office since January 2026

Venezuela's National Assembly voted unanimously on November 10 to let private companies generate and sell electricity, ending a state monopoly written into law in 2010. Concessions can run up to 25 years, and the law allows mixed companies with the state as well as wholly private operators. President of the Assembly Jorge Rodríguez said private parties could install plants, import power from a neighbor, and sell it to industrial and commercial users at a regulated rate.

Updated 2 hours ago

Money Moves

Acting president; has promised elections without a date; U.S. expects her to declare the presidency vacant after new judges are seated

María Corina Machado returned to Venezuela on Oct. 25, and the U.S. has since laid out a sequence for presidential elections in 2027. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Venezuelan Foreign Minister Oliver Blanco on Nov. 2 to reaffirm a three-phase plan. It runs from stabilization and economic recovery to political reconciliation and a democratic transition.

Updated 2 days ago

Force in Play

Acting president; her government published rules for electing a new Supreme Court on November 2; no presidential election date is set.

Delta Force operators captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a pre-dawn Caracas raid on January 3, 2026. Maduro pleaded not guilty in Manhattan and is jailed in Brooklyn awaiting a June 1, 2027 trial, while Delcy Rodríguez remains acting president and has not set an election date.

Updated 4 days ago

Force in Play

Announced on October 29, 2026 that police would no longer make arrests without warrants, and cast herself as the only leader able to guarantee peace

María Corina Machado used her first public speech since returning to Venezuela to back a US plan for presidential elections in 2027, calling the transition "irreversible." She said she and her Vente Venezuela movement are not part of the talks between the government and the 2015 National Assembly, though she expects those talks to produce a new Supreme Court, a new electoral council and an election date.

Updated Nov 2

Rule Changes

Sanctions lifted April 2026

The US Treasury removed Jorge Rodriguez, president of Venezuela's National Assembly, from its sanctions blacklist on October 14. He can now use the US financial system and do business with American citizens for the first time since 2018.

Updated Oct 18

Money Moves

In power since Maduro's ouster in January 2026

After seven years as a federal fugitive, Colombian businessman Álvaro Pulido appeared in a Miami courtroom Tuesday and was ordered held in federal custody. He faces two indictments accusing him of laundering more than $2 billion stolen from Venezuelan government programs.

Updated Oct 14

Rule Changes

As of September 2026: Promised elections without a date; met Trump at UN on Sept 22

Venezuela freed 39 political prisoners over the weekend, the largest release since spring. The move came days after interim President Delcy Rodríguez met Donald Trump in New York, where she promised elections but gave no date.

Updated Sep 28

New Capabilities

As of July 2026: Leading Venezuela's earthquake recovery and reconstruction; her 180-day constitutional mandate expired July 3 without an election announcement

Two weeks after the June 24 twin earthquakes, Venezuela's confirmed death toll reached 3,535 — more than double the figure recorded in the first days after the disaster. Most international rescue teams have withdrawn, leaving 29,567 Venezuelan military and security personnel and more than 27,000 volunteers to continue recovery.

Updated Jul 9

Rule Changes

As of May 2026: 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 May 26

Force in Play

As of May 2026: 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 May 22

Force in Play

As of May 2026: 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 May 22

Force in Play

As of May 2026: 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

As of May 2026: 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