Venezuela’s Acting Leader Was Previously a DEA Priority Target, Report Says

Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez has appeared in U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration intelligence files for several years and was designated a “priority target” in 2022, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The documents reveal that the DEA has maintained intelligence files on Rodríguez dating back to at least 2018. Her name has surfaced in multiple investigations spanning several U.S. and international field offices, though she has never been publicly charged with any criminal wrongdoing.

According to a 2008 DEA assessment, the “priority target” classification is used by the agency to concentrate investigative resources on individuals or organizations believed to play significant roles in major drug trafficking or money laundering operations affecting the United States.

Rodríguez was formally sworn in as Venezuela’s new leader on January 5, just two days after U.S. forces extracted former President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from their compound in Caracas during an early-morning military operation. The couple was taken into U.S. custody and flown to New York to face federal charges.

Maduro faces four counts, including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons charges related to machine guns and destructive devices. His wife faces three similar counts, excluding the narco-terrorism charge.

Despite Rodríguez’s appearance in DEA files, the White House has been actively engaging with her in the weeks since Maduro’s removal. President Donald Trump spoke with Rodríguez by phone and publicly praised her as a “terrific person” during remarks in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

“We discussed a lot of things and I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela,” Trump told reporters.

The U.S. administration’s engagement with Rodríguez has drawn criticism from Venezuelan opposition figures, particularly opposition leader María Corina Machado, who argues that Rodríguez does not represent the Venezuelan people.

“I want to insist on this: Delcy Rodríguez, yes, she’s a communist. She’s the main ally and representation of the Russian regime, the Chinese and the Iranians, but that’s not the Venezuelan people and that’s not the armed forces, as well,” Machado said during an event at the Heritage Foundation on Friday.

The situation highlights the complex geopolitical dynamics at play in Venezuela, a country that has experienced years of political turmoil, economic collapse, and humanitarian crisis under Maduro’s rule. Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, making its stability a matter of significant interest to global powers.

Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro ally, previously served as Venezuela’s vice president and foreign minister. Her elevation to the interim presidency represents continuity with the previous administration, raising questions about the degree of political change that might follow Maduro’s removal.

The revelations about DEA interest in Rodríguez complicate the U.S.-Venezuela relationship at a critical juncture. They also highlight the tensions between the Trump administration’s pragmatic engagement with the new Venezuelan leadership and the aspirations of opposition figures like Machado, who envision a more dramatic break with the Maduro era.

Despite these challenges, Machado expressed optimism about Venezuela’s future. “I am profoundly confident that we will have an orderly transition. This is a complex phase we are in right now,” she said. “But then, the result of a stable transition will be a proud Venezuela who is going to be the best ally the United States has ever had in the Americas.”

The coming weeks and months will likely determine whether Venezuela embarks on a new political path or continues along the trajectory established during the Maduro years, with significant implications for regional stability, international relations, and the Venezuelan people.