Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez has been a target of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration since at least 2018, according to current and former U.S. law enforcement officials. However, it has been reported that prosecutors had never implicated her in any crimes, and investigators were not moving towards an indictment.
Venezuela 's Acting President Delcy Rodriguez has been a target of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration since at least 2018, according to current and former U.S. law enforcement officials.
However, it has been reported that prosecutors had never implicated her in any crimes, and investigators were not moving towards an indictment. This comes as a sign of warming relations between the White House and Venezuela's acting government, led by Rodriguez. The decision to halt any criminal investigations into Rodriguez was meant to avoid upsetting the administration's efforts to stabilize Venezuela after the capture of her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro.
This move is seen as a way to ease pressure on Rodriguez as the Trump administration seeks to work with her to stabilize the country and open it to U.S. investment. President Donald Trump has praised Rodriguez as a 'terrific person' and has removed sanctions against her, recognizing her as Venezuela's sole head of state.
This has allowed her to re-establish ties with western banks and more freely work with U.S. investors seeking to tap into the world's largest petroleum reserves. The move has been seen as a model for driving regime change from within, as the U.S. pressures other longtime adversaries in Iran and Cuba. Rodriguez and her brother, Jorge Rodriguez, were previously hit with U.S. sanctions for their role in undermining Venezuelan democracy and cementing Maduro's authoritarian rule.
However, with the warming of relations between the two governments, Rodriguez has been able to host ceremonies with a steady stream of American oilmen, some of whom have been involved in high-profile deals. Rodriguez has been tight-lipped about her plans for holding elections, responding to a U.S. journalist's question by saying 'some time'.
The decision to halt any criminal investigations into Rodriguez fits well with the Trump administration's foreign policy goals in Venezuela, according to Rick de la Torre, a former CIA chief of station in Caracas.
'She's a lifelong Marxist and was a senior leader of one of the world's most corrupt regimes but the U.S. is providing her with breathing space and carrots to lay the foundation for democracy and U.S. investment,' de la Torre said. Rodriguez has been on the DEA's radar since 2018, with the agency having amassed a detailed intelligence file on her and received allegations about her ranging from drug trafficking to gold smuggling
Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez US DEA Trump Administration Venezuelan Government
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