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The interim replacement of Nicolás Maduro now leading Venezuela after his arrest represents the continuation of the same regime, with a woman who “hates the West” at the helm, a former Venezuelan official has warned.
The rise of Delcy Rodríguez, said the source, emphasizes how the Venezuelan leadership continues to rely on a strong circle of supporters of Maduro instead of new figures, leaving what the source described as “the axis of evil in the geopolitical struggle lives three hours from Miami.”
Rodríguez, Venezuela’s former vice president and oil minister, was sworn in on Monday following Maduro’s ouster and his appearance in a New York court on Monday on drug-trafficking charges.
“The regime is still the same, and it hates the West,” the official told Fox News Digital, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez speaks to the media in Caracas, Venezuela, on March 10, 2025. (Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters)
“In fact, Delcy came from a humble lawyer, and now he is the president of one of the richest countries in Latin America,” said the source.
“Perhaps he has been present in all the posts, because they surround themselves with the same people as they have no one else they trust.
‘Delcy is a very close and loyal person to Maduro and he was similar to Chávez.’
President Donald Trump said Saturday that Rodríguez, 56, stands “willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”
Rodríguez, who has served as foreign minister, president of the Constituent Assembly, vice president and oil minister, was sworn in by his brother, Jorge Rodríguez, head of the National Assembly.
Born in Caracas, Rodríguez is the daughter of Marxist guerrilla leader Jorge Antonio Rodríguez, founder of the Socialist League.
He was arrested in connection with the kidnapping of American businessman William F. Niehous in 1976 and later died in police custody, according to the New York Times.
“That test is the foundation and root of Delcy’s hatred of the West and democracy,” the source said, before adding, “his whole background was Marxist.”
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Side photo of President Donald Trump and Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. (Joe Raedle/Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images)
“A Marxist terrorist group kidnapped an American official in 1976, and he was imprisoned for three years until the authorities found the group hiding in the Amazon jungle,” the source said.
Rodríguez’s tenure as foreign minister has also been marked by controversy, the source said, including allegations that Venezuelan passports, birth certificates, and citizenships are being illegally sold abroad, according to reports.
At the 2016 United Nations General Assembly, Rodríguez said that these allegations are not true.
“There are passports that were being sold in Iraq, they were giving birth certificates to terrorists,” said the source.
In 2018, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Rodríguez, marking his role as a top official in the Maduro government. Those penalties are still in place.
He is also said to be involved in the scandal called “Delcygate” in 2020 after he allegedly went into hiding in Spain despite sanctions against him, Spanish media reported.
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Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez leaves the Argentine Foreign Ministry in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, December 14, 2016. Mercosur Foreign Ministers from Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina met at the Mercosur Foreign Ministers’ Conference in Buenos Aires on Wednesday. (AP Photo) (Associated Press)
Reports say he was transporting gold to Europe, a claim Rodríguez denies.
“He had 40 bags full of gold on a private plane as vice president,” said the source. “They put the bags in the X-ray, they found gold,” said the source.
“Venezuela has become an area occupied by Iran, China, Russia and Cuba,” said the source, citing armed groups including the FARC and ELN that control large parts of the country.
“Delcy is temporary, but all these groups are part of the Chávez group that comes from the anti-Communist ideas from which they came.”
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“Now we see the axis of evil in the geopolitical struggle three hours from Miami,” said the source.
“There are brutal crimes committed by this whole group, and there is kleptocracy and massive corruption, all of which still exist,” the source said.
