Delcy Rodríguez

Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as Venezuela's interim president on 5 January 2026, two days after US special forces captured then-president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in a military raid on Caracas codenamed Operation Resolve. As Maduro's vice president, she was constitutionally positioned to take over, and the Venezuelan Supreme Court confirmed her appointment the same day. Her government has since released hundreds of political prisoners and passed an amnesty bill covering political violence dating back to 1999, while simultaneously opening exploratory diplomatic talks with Washington.

Whether her presidency represents a genuine democratic transition or a rebranded continuation of Chavista rule remains an open and actively contested question. A WOLA analysis published two months into her tenure found that while some political prisoners were released and civil society regained limited space, the underlying authoritarian structures Maduro and predecessor Hugo Chávez built remain largely intact. The Trump administration has meanwhile pursued a rapid economic realignment, securing oil deals with Rodríguez's government and lifting sanctions even as it withheld full recognition of her legitimacy for weeks.