Delcy Rodríguez

Delcy Rodríguez has governed Venezuela for roughly six months since Nicolás Maduro's January 3 capture by U.S. forces made her acting president. The dominant story now is the June 24 twin earthquakes — magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, 39 seconds apart, the strongest since 1900 — which devastated Caracas and La Guaira state. As of July 13 the confirmed death toll reached 4,490, with over 16,700 injured and tens of thousands missing. Rodríguez declared a national state of emergency, placed La Guaira under military control, and launched a "Venezuela Reborn" reconstruction program, accepting aid from 30-plus countries including the United States, India, Vietnam, Israel, Turkey, and the EU. She requested release of some 30 tonnes of Venezuelan gold held at the Bank of England and $3.5–5B in IMF Special Drawing Rights to fund recovery. She has defended the state's response against criticism from survivors, the International Rescue Committee, and opposition leader María Corina Machado, who accused the government of "total absence of the state" and announced a presidential run from exile. Rodríguez dismissed Machado's critique as a "media conspiracy to discredit the government" and said there would be no social unrest, only "deep social solidarity."

Beyond the earthquake, Rodríguez is executing a sweeping economic opening. A February hydrocarbons law lets PDVSA sign direct contracts with private firms; a 131-article mining law offers 30-year renewable concessions. April exports hit 1.23M bpd, the highest since 2018, with the U.S. now receiving roughly half the supply. She signed an MOU with BP to develop the Cocuina-Manakin offshore gas field and a deal with GE Vernova to restore Venezuela's power grid. She launched a $150–170B debt restructuring under U.S. General License 58, hiring Centerview Partners, and secured IMF and World Bank reintegration in April. On May 1 she raised the comprehensive minimum income from $190 to $240, though the legal base salary remains near $0.30 a month against a $600–700 basic food basket.

Diplomatically, Rodríguez met Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi for a strategic energy partnership, met President Erdoğan in Istanbul to raise bilateral trade toward $3B, and received Colombian President Petro at Miraflores for joint border-security agreements. She traveled to The Hague to lead Venezuela's ICJ delegation defending sovereignty over the Essequibo region. She rejected Trump's proposal to make Venezuela the 51st U.S. state, asserting the country is "not a colony, but a free country." She coordinated with Washington on a U.S. Southern Command strike that killed Tren de Aragua leader Hector Guerrero Flores, and accepted a 30-person Israeli IDF engineering team despite no formal diplomatic ties since 2009. Her government deported Maduro ally Alex Saab to face U.S. money-laundering charges, a move she called a "resounding victory."