On the close relationship between Delcy Rodríguez and the Trump
Administration.
*How Marco Rubio Is Running Venezuela From Afar*
The secretary of state effectively controls Venezuela’s finances, the
distribution of its natural resources and its government. His grip on
the country is a vivid manifestation of American power in the Trump era.
By Tyler Pager
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.nytimes.com/by/tyler-pager>and
Anatoly Kurmanaev
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.nytimes.com/by/anatoly-kurmanaev>,
Tyler Pager, who covers the White House, reported from Washington and
Caracas. Anatoly Kurmanaev, who covers Venezuela, reported from Caracas.
July 11, 2026,
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/us/politics/how-marco-rubio-runs-venezuela.html
President Trump was sitting in the Oval Office earlier this year with
Secretary of State Marco Rubio when an idea came to him.
Maybe he should dispatch Mr. Rubio permanently to Caracas, the
Venezuelan capital, where U.S. commandos had carried out the proudest
foreign policy achievement of Mr. Trump’s second term: the capture of
Nicolás Maduro, the country’s president.
Mr. Rubio could be the next leader of Venezuela, Mr. Trump suggested.
And while the president’s aides say he was joking — and that he
frequently teases Mr. Rubio about an overseas assignment — the fact is
that Mr. Rubio does not need to move to Caracas.
He already runs Venezuela from Washington.
In the six months since U.S. forces blew open Mr. Maduro’s bedroom door
and snatched him in the dead of night, Mr. Rubio has become the de facto
viceroy of Venezuela, holding sway over a sovereign nation in a way that
no American official has since L. Paul Bremer III arrived in Baghdad in
2003 to run U.S.-occupied Iraq.
Mr. Rubio now effectively controls Venezuela’s finances, the
distribution of its natural resources and its government, according to
interviews with more than a dozen officials and people close to both
governments in Washington and Caracas, who provided details about his
involvement in steering the country’s policies. Many spoke on condition
of anonymity to describe private interactions and internal discussions.
While he has not visited Venezuela in person since the U.S. took over,
the secretary of state is deeply involved in the country’s day-to-day
operations, keeping in close contact with Delcy Rodríguez, who was Mr.
Maduro’s vice president and now leads her country on an acting basis,
with the imprimatur of the United States. The two exchange messages in
Spanish on WhatsApp, trading gossip, birthday greetings and selfies.
Despite the banter, the relationship between Mr. Rubio and Ms. Rodríguez
is far from a partnership. It is a manifestation of Trump-era American
power, in which the winner takes all regardless of sovereignty and
international law.
The Venezuelan government did not respond to a request for comment. The
Trump administration did not address detailed questions about Mr.
Rubio’s authority in Venezuela. Mr. Rubio has downplayed his role, and
largely avoids discussing his work. He declined multiple requests for an
interview.
Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement that
“with renewed cooperation and sound economic stewardship, Venezuela can
re-emerge as a stable, prosperous partner whose citizens benefit from
its vast natural wealth and strengthened ties with the United States.”
The direct control over Venezuela’s public revenues, in particular,
distinguishes Washington’s influence there from most other countries
beholden to its military and financial might.
The U.S. Treasury receives the revenue from most of Venezuela’s exports,
then disburses it to Venezuela through the country’s banking system, a
relationship akin to parents handing out allowances to children. Mr.
Rubio and his team set the conditions on what that money can be spent
on, and by whom.
This system has allowed Mr. Rubio to stop Venezuela’s most egregious
corruption schemes. And it brings some benefits to the Venezuelan
government, which uses the effective protection of the U.S. Treasury to
receive revenues without being hounded by the numerous creditors seeking
repayment of billions in unpaid debt.
But the arrangement has also given Mr. Rubio immense leverage over Ms.
Rodríguez, who depends on the money to pay workers and prop up the
national currency.
He also oversees the application of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela,
deciding who gets to do business in the country and how. He has worked
to reshape the oil sector and boosted the access of U.S. companies. For
her part, Ms. Rodríguez runs important government appointments by him,
such as the minister of defense.
Image
Since two earthquakes struck Venezuela last month, Mr. Rubio has sought
to bolster the country’s interim government. The United States has sent
900 military personnel to Venezuela, committed nearly $400 million in
aid and delivered crates of cash to the Venezuelan government.
The earthquakes have complicated Mr. Rubio’s stated mission to return
Venezuela to democracy (“It’s a setback in that regard,” Mr. Rubio
acknowledged last month). But the country’s ability to recover is
critical to Mr. Trump’s ultimate goal: securing Venezuelan oil
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/02/actions-to-implement-president-trumps-vision-for-venezuelan-oil>for
U.S. interests.
The arrangement is deeply unusual, unfolding 80 years after the United
States relinquished its last sizable formal colony, the Philippines.
But Mr. Trump has made clear he wants to return to an era of American
expansionism
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/us/politics/trump-rubio-foreign-policy-empire.html>,
musing about taking control of Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal.
He has found the most success in Venezuela. But there are risks.
Mr. Trump’s critics accuse the United States of siphoning Venezuela’s
resources and propping up an authoritarian government by leaving Mr.
Maduro’s henchmen largely in place. The arrangement also entangles the
United States in the fortunes of a deeply unpopular, unelected regime
facing increasingly restless clamor for political change.
“Secretary Rubio said that we are not at war with Venezuela,”
Representative Sean Casten, Democrat of Illinois, said to Treasury
Secretary Scott Bessent during a congressional hearing
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTMIc8HWQLM>in
February. What authority, Mr. Casten asked, did the United States have
to control Venezuelan assets?
Mr. Bessent told Mr. Casten that he would get back to him.
Mr. Rubio’s hard-nosed realpolitik in Venezuela is a sharp departure for
a man who spent his career fashioning himself as a champion for
democracy in Latin America. He has said his goal is an eventual
democratic transition.
The outcome of the Venezuela foray could shape Mr. Rubio’s political
future as Mr. Trump considers his successor.
*‘Make Venezuela Great Again’*
In the early hours of Jan. 3, shortly after Mr. Maduro was captured, Mr.
Rubio reached Ms. Rodríguez by phone. Speaking in Spanish, Mr. Rubio
told her that she had a choice between working with the United States or
witnessing a broader attack targeting Venezuela’s infrastructure,
military bases and senior officials.
After some negotiation, Ms. Rodríguez agreed.
She told Mr. Rubio that “she’s essentially willing to do what we think
is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” according to Mr. Trump. The
president said the United States would “run the country” until there was
a “safe, proper and judicious transition” of power.
Days later, Mr. Trump told The New York Times in an interview that he
expected the United States to run Venezuela for years.
At the center of the fulcrum is Mr. Rubio, dubbed by other officials as
“viceroy,” the title given to the powerful governors who ruled the
Spanish empire until Venezuela and most of its other provinces rebelled
and won independence in the early 19th century.
As Ms. Rodríguez started to set up her government, Mr. Rubio weighed in
on key personnel decisions, and encouraged her to purge Mr. Maduro’s
family and business partners. She followed through.
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/world/americas/delcy-rodriguez-maduro-allies-venezuela.html>
Most Venezuelans expressed relief at Mr. Maduro’s downfall only to watch
in disbelief
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.nytimes.com/2026/06/23/world/americas/venezuela-oil-delcy-rodriguez-trump.html>as
the Trump administration struck an alliance with most of his chief
enforcers. Inflation has fallen but remains the world’s highest, and the
country’s currency keeps losing value. Millions are clamoring
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.nytimes.com/2026/06/23/world/americas/venezuela-oil-delcy-rodriguez-trump.html>for
new elections, putting pressure on Mr. Rubio to move beyond economic
deals and bring political change. Investors are nervous about putting
capital into a system that could crumble at any moment.
Before the earthquakes, Ms. Rodríguez had been asking Mr. Rubio for more
financial autonomy and the scrapping of economic sanctions, to reduce
the domestic pressure on her government.
Mr. Rubio has been sympathetic to her arguments, but the U.S. government
has not released control.
Mr. Rubio’s work with Ms. Rodríguez has provoked grumbling among some
career U.S. diplomats, Venezuelan Americans and Mr. Trump’s allies, who
bristle at the idea that Mr. Maduro’s chief lieutenant is in power.
Mr. Rubio and other officials have dismissed those concerns, pointing to
how Ms. Rodríguez has followed nearly every order the administration has
made, especially those related to the country’s finances. Venezuela
sells much of its oil through two oil trading companies, Trafigura and
Vitol, in an arrangement set up by the Trump administration
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/world/americas/venezuela-oil-us-deal.html>.
Mr. Rubio has largely eclipsed Chris Wright, the energy secretary, in
opening up Venezuela’s oil industry to foreign investment, the
cornerstone of Mr. Trump’s vision for the country. He has prioritized
the arrival of new American companies at the expense of European oil
producers who were already working in the country.
Ben Dietderich, a spokesman for Mr. Wright, said the secretary has
worked closely with Mr. Rubio, and has spoken regularly with energy
industry leaders and Ms. Rodríguez.
Washington’s grip on Venezuela’s economy extends beyond the oil
revenues. Mr. Rubio’s team drafts the licenses that provide companies
who want to do business in Venezuela with exemptions from sanctions. Mr.
Rubio has warned Ms. Rodríguez’s government to abstain from business
with U.S. adversaries. Following Mr. Maduro’s downfall, for example,
Venezuela’s state oil company has quietly taken over the operations of
the oil projects that it co-owns with Russia’s state-run Rosneft.
Rosneft did not respond to request for comment.
The Trump administration has also successfully pressured Ms. Rodríguez
to turn over Venezuelans who have crossed the Justice Department. At the
behest of the United States, Ms. Rodríguez’s government in February
detained Alex Saab
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/world/americas/us-alex-saab-extradition-maduro-ally.html>,
the billionaire friend and business partner of Mr. Maduro, and approved
his extradition to the United States, after stripping him of his
Venezuelan passport.
Some officials believe the Justice Department wants to use Mr. Saab to
strengthen the case against Mr. Maduro, who has been charged with
various drug trafficking crimes
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/01/03/nyregion/venezuela-maduro-indictment.html>.
And in June, the Rodríguez government helped the United States kill a
criminal boss with longstanding ties to Venezuelan officials, according
to several people familiar with the operation.
U.S. forces used the intelligence provided by Ms. Rodríguez’s officials
to kill Niño Guerrero, one of the leaders of the gang Tren de Aragua, in
a missile strike in a remote area of southern Venezuela. It was the
first military collaboration between the two countries in decades. The
Venezuelan government later recovered the gang leader’s body and passed
it to the United States.
The Trump administration has accused Tren de Aragua of working with Mr.
Maduro to flood the United States with drugs and illegal migrants, even
though U.S. intelligence agencies last year assessed
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/us/trump-venezuela-gang-ties-spy-memo.html>that
Mr. Maduro did not control the gang.
The Trump administration even exerts control over Ms. Rodríguez’s public
appearances and statements. In May, Mr. Rubio announced that Ms.
Rodríguez would travel to India before the Venezuelan government
mentioned it, surprising Venezuelan officials and foreign diplomats.
When the Fox News anchor Bret Baier contacted Ms. Rodríguez about
participating in an interview, she told him that Mr. Trump would have to
approve. Mr. Trump loved that Ms. Rodríguez was deferring to him, and
has repeatedly recounted the story to others when they ask about her,
according to multiple people familiar with his comments.
When the United States attacked Iran, Yvan Gil, Venezuela’s foreign
minister, issued a soft condemnation
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/elpitazo.net/politica/canciller-de-venezuela-elimina-comunicado-en-el-que-condenaba-ataque-de-ee-uu-contra-iran/>of
the aggression against Venezuela’s longtime ally.
The Trump administration communicated to Ms. Rodríguez that the post
should be taken down, and warned her not to publicly support its
adversaries again. Mr. Gil deleted the post
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/elpitazo.net/politica/canciller-de-venezuela-elimina-comunicado-en-el-que-condenaba-ataque-de-ee-uu-contra-iran/>hours
after posting it.
In effect, it was an admission that Venezuela no longer set its foreign
policy.
Mr. Gil did not respond to a request for comment.
*Reassurance From Trump*
Mr. Rubio was asleep in Bahrain last month when he was awakened by a
call from the White House Situation Room. Two massive earthquakes had
hit Venezuela, and early images were grim. Entire neighborhoods were
flattened, and scores of people were missing.
Shortly after, Mr. Rubio spoke to Ms. Rodríguez, promising the full
assistance of the United States. American rescue teams were on the
ground two days later. Mr. Rubio has described the administration’s
plans for Venezuela in three phases: recover the economy, stabilize the
country and transition it to democracy.
Before the earthquakes, U.S. officials said they were in the second
phase, working to open up Venezuela to international investment. To
further that goal, senior Trump administration officials have traveled
to Venezuela to meet their counterparts and strike new energy and mining
deals.
The resulting announcements, however, have mostly been optimistic
outlines of potential investments.
In March, Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, visited Venezuela and met
with Ms. Rodríguez at the Presidential Palace. During the visit, Mr.
Rubio texted her to ask how the meeting was going. Ms. Rodríguez said it
was going well, and sent a selfie with Mr. Burgum.
But the meeting was overshadowed by damaging news. Reuters reported
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-turns-up-heat-venezuela-with-threat-indict-new-leader-delcy-rodriguez-2026-03-03/>that
day that the Justice Department was quietly building a legal case
against Ms. Rodríguez.
Ms. Rodríguez’s administration was shocked, and sought clarification
from the White House. To allay Ms. Rodríguez’s concerns, Todd Blanche,
then the deputy attorney general, called the report “completely FALSE
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/x.com/DAGToddBlanche/status/2028904680579895350>.”
But the Venezuelan government sought further assurances. So the next day
Mr. Rubio texted Mr. Rodríguez the link to a social media post from the
U.S. president.
“Delcy Rodríguez, who is the President of Venezuela, is doing a great
job, and working with U.S. Representatives very well,” Mr. Trump wrote
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2029296687877853626?s=20>.
Ms. Rodríguez was pleased, and wanted to thank Mr. Trump with a post of
her own. But first, she shared the draft with Mr. Rubio. She posted it
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/x.com/delcyrodriguezv/status/2029303103980245356>after
receiving his approval.
Before Mr. Maduro’s capture, U.S. prosecutors had been looking into many
Venezuelan officials, including Ms. Rodríguez, though it is unclear if
those efforts have revealed evidence of crimes. The Associated Press
reported in May
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/apnews.com/article/federal-prosecutors-venezuela-rodriguez-avoid-criminal-investigations-07226dea025e16afcf8ca3e39280fd76>that
the Trump administration told prosecutors to stop investigating Ms.
Rodríguez.
The success of the efforts to bring stability to Venezuela, the second
phase of Mr. Rubio’s plan, largely hinges on foreign investment. But
investors are cautious. The oil sector is degraded and corrupt, and Ms.
Rodríguez’s grip on power in uncertain. The earthquakes have delayed the
negotiations for new oil contracts.
Mr. Trump appears unworried. He has repeatedly suggested that Venezuela
could become the 51st state.
Who may lead the country on a more permanent basis is still deeply
uncertain. María Corina Machado, the exiled opposition leader, remains
the country’s most popular politician. But she has sworn enemies among
Venezuela’s security and military officials, leading Mr. Rubio to bypass
her and settle on Ms. Rodríguez as the country’s handpicked leader.
Once a staunch supporter of Ms. Machado, Mr. Rubio has distanced himself
from her in recent months. The cooling relationship between the Trump
administration and Ms. Machado became an open breach
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.nytimes.com/2026/06/30/world/americas/trump-machado-venezuela-rift.html>after
the earthquakes. U.S. officials have refused to help her return to
Venezuela out of fear of stoking unrest.
The time frame for the final phase of Mr. Rubio’s Venezuela plan, the
free elections, remains undefined. When The Times asked Ms. Rodríguez in
May when she would hold elections, she said, “I don’t know. Sometime.”
Political analysts say that Ms. Rodríguez may be trying to run out the
clock on the Trump presidency, hoping that the pressure to hold the vote
would fade under his successor.
For now, the question of when an election would be held is not in her
hands. It is in Mr. Rubio’s.
Eric Schmitt and Alan Feuer contributed reporting.
*Tyler Pager*
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.nytimes.com/by/tyler-pager>is a
White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and
his administration.
*Anatoly Kurmanaev*
<https://archive.fo/o/8ILeD/https:/www.nytimes.com/by/anatoly-kurmanaev>covers Venezuela
and its interim government.
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