A former Venezuelan official has warned that Nicolás Maduro’s interim replacement following his arrest signals continuity of the same regime, now led by a woman who “hates the West.”
According to the source, Delcy Rodríguez’s appointment highlights how Venezuela’s leadership persists in depending on a close-knit circle of Maduro loyalists instead of fresh faces, creating what the source called “the axis of evil three hours from Miami.”
Rodríguez, who previously served as Venezuela’s foreign minister and oil minister, was sworn in on Monday after Maduro’s removal from office and his arraignment in a New York courtroom on drug trafficking charges.
“The regime remains unchanged, and she despises the West,” the official told Digital, speaking anonymously.
“Delcy has risen from being a mediocre lawyer to become president of one of Latin America’s wealthiest nations,” the source stated.
“She has likely held nearly every position, as they cycle through the same individuals due to a lack of other trusted candidates,” the source said.
“Delcy is a highly close and trusted ally of Maduro and was equally so for Chávez.”
The President stated Saturday that Rodríguez, 56, is “willing to do what we deem necessary to make Venezuela great again.”
Rodríguez, who has served as foreign minister, president of the Constituent Assembly, vice president, and oil minister, has ties to Jorge Rodríguez, head of the National Assembly.
Born in Caracas, Rodríguez is the daughter of a Marxist guerrilla leader and Socialist League co-founder.
He was detained in connection with the 1976 abduction of American businessman William F. Niehous and subsequently died while in police custody, according to reports.
“That experience forms the basis and root of Delcy’s animosity toward the West and democracy,” the source said, adding that “her entire background was Marxist.”
“The Marxist guerrilla faction abducted an American executive in 1976, holding him captive for three years until authorities discovered the group concealed in the Amazon jungle,” the source stated.
Rodríguez’s time as foreign minister was also tainted by controversy, the source alleged, including the illegal sale of passports, birth certificates, and nationalities abroad, according to reports.
During the 2016 United Nations General Assembly, Rodríguez denied the allegations.
“Passports were being sold in Iraq, and birth certificates were being issued to terrorists,” the source claimed.
In 2018, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Rodríguez, citing her position as a senior official in the Maduro government.
She was also reportedly implicated in the so-called “Delcygate” scandal in 2020 after allegedly making a clandestine stop in Spain despite existing sanctions, as reported by media outlets.
Reports claimed she was smuggling gold into Europe, an allegation Rodríguez has denied.
“She transported 40 bags filled with gold aboard a private jet while serving as vice president,” the source alleged. “The bags were scanned through X-ray, revealing the gold.”
“Venezuela has become an occupied territory of China, Russia, and Cuba,” the source added, noting that armed groups including FARC and ELN control vast portions of the country.
“Delcy serves as interim leader, but all these groups belong to the Chávez-era cohort that embraced anti-Western communist ideologies that she also hails from.”
“We now witness the axis of evil engaged in a geopolitical conflict just three hours from Miami,” the source added.
“This entire group has committed atrocity crimes, alongside maintaining kleptocracy and grand corruption, all of which persist,” the source concluded.