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New Delhi: Venezuela's Supreme Court has ordered vice president Delcy Rodriguez to take over the role of acting president of the country after the capture of president Nicolas Maduro in a US military operation.
The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court said the 56-year-old Rodriguez would assume the presidency to ensure "administrative continuity and the comprehensive defence of the nation", adding that it would deliberate further to determine the legal framework governing the president's "forced absence". Rodriguez, however, said on Saturday that Maduro remained Venezuela's only president, contradicting comments by US President Donald Trump, who said she had been sworn in and was prepared to cooperate with Washington.
A long-time loyalist of Maduro, Rodriguez has been a central figure in Venezuela's political and economic management for years. Born on May 18, 1969, in Caracas, she is the daughter of left-wing guerrilla leader Jorge Antonio Rodriguez, founder of the Liga Socialista party, who died in police custody in the 1970s. Maduro has often referred to her as a "tiger" for her fierce defence of his government.
Rodriguez works closely with her brother Jorge Rodriguez, the head of Venezuela's National Assembly. An attorney by training, she graduated from the Universidad Central de Venezuela and rose rapidly through the ranks of the ruling movement over the past decade.
She served as minister for communication and information between 2013 and 2014, before becoming foreign minister from 2014 to 2017. During her tenure as top diplomat, Rodriguez was known for her confrontational style, including a high-profile attempt to attend a Mercosur trade bloc meeting in Buenos Aires after Venezuela had been suspended from the group.
In 2017, she was appointed head of the pro-government Constituent Assembly, a body that expanded Maduro's powers and sidelined the opposition-led legislature. She was named vice president in June 2018, with Maduro describing her at the time as "brave" and "tested in a thousand battles".
Rodriguez later took on the finance and oil portfolios alongside the vice presidency, making her an important figure in managing Venezuela's economy amid hyperinflation, sanctions and a collapse in private-sector activity. In August 2024, Maduro formally added the oil ministry to her responsibilities, tasking her with navigating escalating US sanctions on the country's most important industry. Despite her ideological alignment with the government, she has pursued relatively orthodox economic measures in an effort to curb inflation.
On Saturday, in an audio message broadcast by state media, she called on the United States to provide proof of life for Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, following their capture.
