“Rodr\u00edguez is neither gracious nor a reformer. She’s a self-identified communist who has held key positions under both former dictator Hugo Ch\u00e1vez and Maduro, Venezuelan political writer Paola Bautista de Alem\u00e1n tells Reason. In 2017, Maduro tapped Rodr\u00edguez to be president of the illegitimate constituent assembly that usurped the powers of the elected National Assembly to silence the opposition. Later that year, Maduro appointed her to the “Anti-Coup Command,” tasked with taking measures against alleged coup plotters and terrorists, labels routinely applied to peaceful opposition figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As vice president, she oversaw the agencies responsible for repression and mass human rights violations. From 2018 until April 2021, Rodr\u00edguez exercised direct hierarchical control over the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), Venezuela’s feared intelligence service responsible for domestic surveillance and counterintelligence. Under Rodr\u00edguez’s leadership, the SEBIN acted as a political police to prosecute perceived enemies of the Maduro regime, including opposition leader Freddy Guevara, whom the agency detained in 2021, two days after Rodr\u00edguez publicly accused him of being involved in gang violence. Former SEBIN Director General Cristopher Figuera testified to the United Nations that he communicated with the vice president “practically every day,” including updates on wiretaps and surveillance of politicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2020, the U.N. concluded there are “reasonable grounds to believe” Rodr\u00edguez “knew or should have known” of crimes committed by SEBIN officials, including arbitrary detention and torture. Despite having the authority to prevent these crimes, she failed to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to human rights violations, Rodr\u00edguez has been accused of corruption and bribing international officials, as seen in the “Delcygate” scandal. Spanish investigators believe Rodr\u00edguez orchestrated a scheme in 2020 to sell 104 bars of Venezuelan state gold to Spanish businessmen through corrupt Transport Ministry officials. The deal allegedly took place at Madrid’s airport, where Rodr\u00edguez met with Spanish Transport Minister Jos\u00e9 Luis \u00c1balos despite being banned from entering E.U. territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The alleged operation extended further. After receiving $62 million in Spanish state aid in March 2021, Spanish airline Plus Ultra allegedly used the funds to repay “loans” to accounts linked to Venezuela abroad. Investigators believe the scheme laundered proceeds from both gold sales and embezzlement of Venezuela’s food distribution program\u2014meaning funds meant to feed hungry Venezuelans may have been funneled into European bank accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On top of this, there are accusations from former Venezuelan officials about Rodr\u00edguez’s role in the Cartel de los Soles<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Rodr\u00edguez’s track record has earned her sanctions from the U.S., European Union, Switzerland, and Canada for corruption and undermining democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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When Maduro was captured, Gonz\u00e1lez and Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, the opposition leader who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize and dedicated it to both the Venezuelan people and Trump, immediately called for Gonz\u00e1lez to assume his constitutional mandate as the legitimately elected president. David Smolansky, Gonz\u00e1lez’s official spokesperson, laid out the opposition’s vision: free political prisoners, restore democratic order, and welcome back the millions of Venezuelans forced into exile by the regime’s failures. Instead, Trump chose to work with Rodr\u00edguez, effectively sidelining Venezuela’s democratically elected opposition and forcing them to watch the U.S. partner with the very regime that stole their victory.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n