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In the wake of President Donald Trump’s dramatic announcement of Nicolás Maduro’s capture to face U.S. drug trafficking charges, Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez has been thrust into an unexpected spotlight. While Trump has publicly embraced Rodríguez as America’s preferred partner to stabilize the crisis-ridden nation, her background reveals a more complicated story.
According to records obtained by The Associated Press and interviews with multiple U.S. law enforcement officials, Rodríguez has been under the Drug Enforcement Administration’s scrutiny for years. In 2022, she was designated as a “priority target” by the DEA, a classification reserved for individuals believed to have a “significant impact” on drug trafficking operations.
The DEA has maintained a detailed intelligence file on Rodríguez since at least 2018, documenting allegations ranging from drug trafficking to gold smuggling. One confidential informant told the agency in early 2021 that Rodríguez was using hotels in the Caribbean resort of Isla Margarita “as a front to launder money,” the records show. As recently as last year, she was allegedly connected to Alex Saab, Maduro’s accused financial operator who was arrested by U.S. authorities in 2020 on money laundering charges.
Despite this scrutiny, the U.S. government has never publicly accused Rodríguez of any criminal wrongdoing. Unlike more than a dozen current Venezuelan officials charged alongside Maduro for drug trafficking, she has not faced formal charges.
Rodríguez’s name has appeared in nearly a dozen DEA investigations spanning multiple field offices from Paraguay and Ecuador to Phoenix and New York, according to the AP’s findings. Three current and former DEA agents who reviewed the records indicated an intense interest in Rodríguez throughout much of her tenure as vice president, which began in 2018.
The “priority target” designation requires extensive documentation to justify additional investigative resources. The DEA maintains hundreds of such targets at any given time, and the label doesn’t necessarily lead to criminal charges.
“She was on the rise, so it’s not surprising that she might become a high-priority target with her role,” explained Kurt Lunkenheimer, a former federal prosecutor in Miami who has handled multiple Venezuela-related cases. “The issue is when people talk about you and you become a high-priority target, there’s a difference between that and evidence supporting an indictment.”
Trump’s sudden embrace of Rodríguez presents a stark contradiction to the DEA’s long-standing interest in her activities. The president has called her a “terrific person” and highlighted their close communication, along with her contacts with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who recently met with her in Caracas.
This contradiction underscores the complex nature of Venezuela’s power structure, according to Steve Dudley, co-director of InSight Crime, a think tank focused on organized crime in the Americas: “The current Venezuela government is a criminal-hybrid regime. The only way you reach a position of power in the regime is by, at the very least, abetting criminal activities. This isn’t a bug in the system. This is the system.”
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who met with Trump at the White House last week, echoed these concerns: “The American justice system has sufficient information about her. Her profile is quite clear.”
Rodríguez, 56, rose to power as a loyal aide to Maduro, sharing his leftist ideology rooted in her personal history—her socialist father died in police custody when she was only 7 years old. Despite blaming the U.S. for her father’s death, she worked as foreign minister and later vice president to court American investment during Trump’s first administration.
Her efforts included hiring lobbyists with Trump connections and arranging for Venezuela’s state oil company to donate $500,000 to his inaugural committee. However, her charm offensive faltered when Trump, influenced by Rubio, pressured Maduro to hold free elections.
In September 2018, the White House sanctioned Rodríguez, describing her as key to Maduro’s authoritarian rule. The European Union also imposed sanctions on her. However, these actions focused on her role in undermining democracy rather than corruption allegations.
“Venezuela is a failed state that supports terrorism, corruption, human rights abuses and drug trafficking at the highest echelons. There is nothing political about this analysis,” said Rob Zachariasiewicz, a former DEA agent who led investigations into top Venezuelan officials. “Delcy Rodríguez has been part of this criminal enterprise.”
For Rodríguez, these ongoing investigations represent potential leverage in U.S.-Venezuela relations. Trump’s threat after Maduro’s ouster that she would “pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she didn’t cooperate underscores this dynamic. The president specifically mentioned wanting “total access” to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and other natural resources.
“Just being a leader in a highly corrupted regime for over a decade makes it logical that she is a priority target for investigation,” said David Smilde, a Tulane University professor specializing in Venezuelan studies. “She surely knows this, and it gives the U.S. government leverage over her. She may fear that if she does not do as the Trump administration demands, she could end up with an indictment like Maduro.”
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8 Comments
Given Venezuela’s ongoing economic and political turmoil, this news about Rodríguez’s DEA connections adds another layer of complexity. It highlights the challenges the country faces in rooting out corruption and establishing more transparent governance.
This news about Rodríguez comes at a pivotal time for Venezuela as the country navigates its ongoing crises. The revelation of her DEA designation could shift the dynamics in the region and complicate diplomatic efforts to address the country’s challenges.
The potential links between Rodríguez and drug trafficking/money laundering operations raise serious concerns. It will be critical for U.S. and international authorities to carefully investigate these allegations and hold any implicated officials accountable.
This news about Rodríguez’s alleged ties to the DEA is certainly concerning. It’s crucial that any claims of criminal activity by Venezuelan officials be thoroughly investigated and, if substantiated, that appropriate actions are taken to address the corruption.
I’m curious to learn more about the specific evidence and allegations against Rodríguez. While the DEA’s focus on her is concerning, the details behind their designations and intelligence would be helpful to evaluate the full scope of her potential involvement.
The allegations against Rodríguez are quite serious. If true, it’s troubling to see a top Venezuelan leader potentially linked to such criminal operations. It will be important to see how this plays out and whether any charges or actions are taken against her.
This is a fascinating story. It’s concerning to see how high-level Venezuelan officials like Rodríguez may be involved in illicit activities like drug trafficking and money laundering. The DEA’s detailed intelligence file on her raises serious questions that deserve further investigation.
This is an important development to track, as it could have major implications for Venezuela’s political and economic landscape. Rodríguez’s position as acting president makes her alleged ties to illicit activities even more significant.