The Players to Know in Venezuela’s Leadership

 

The Players to Know in Venezuela’s Leadership

Since President Trump deposed Nicolás Maduro, his entrenched web of loyalists has appeared to remain intact. Here’s a look at some of the most influential.

 

Pranav Baskar

By Pranav Baskar

Jan. 6, 2026, 5:01 p.m. ET

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/world/americas/venezeula-remaining-leadership-profiles.html

 

The government of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s president, has appeared to remain intact days after President Trump ousted him from power and on Monday suggested there would be extended U.S. involvement in the country until it is nursed “back to health.”

 

Since the U.S. military operation that seized him, Mr. Maduro’s inner circle, including some of those indicted alongside him, has aimed to present a united front against what they condemn as an illegal intervention. On Tuesday, Tarek Saab, Venezuela’s attorney general, called for cooperation among all public and military institutions in the face of what he called “state terrorism” against Venezuela by the United States.

 

Loyalists of Mr. Maduro, who is being held in New York ahead of a trial on charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy and conspiracy to import cocaine, are entrenched across the government. His supporters have whittled down the opposition, forcing key figures into exile. Just 32 legislators of the country’s 285-seat National Assembly belong to the opposition — and those who do have seats are generally distrusted by others in the opposition as Maduro collaborators.

 

Here’s a look at the key players in Venezuela’s leadership.

 

Delcy Rodriguez, the Interim President

Delcy Rodriguez, previously Mr. Maduro’s vice president, was sworn in Monday as Venezuela’s interim leader. The new role has forced her to balance defending her country’s sovereignty with fielding Mr. Trump’s demands. She has both offered to work on a “cooperative agenda” with the United States and condemned what she described as its “illegitimate military aggression.”

 

As a politician, Ms. Rodriguez, 56, is known for building bridges with Venezuela’s economic elites, foreign investors and diplomats, presenting herself as a cosmopolitan technocrat in a militaristic and male-dominated government. A relative moderate, Ms. Rodríguez is the architect of a market-friendly overhaul that stabilized the Venezuelan economy after a prolonged collapse.

 

Jorge Rodríguez, President of the National Assembly

Jorge Rodríguez is the older brother of Delcy Rodríguez and was Mr. Maduro’s chief political strategist. He has represented Mr. Maduro in talks with the United States for years, including in negotiations with the Trump administration last year. Though a skilled political operator, Mr. Rodríguez lacks popular support, according to polls. His standing inside the government has also been weakened by his decision to go ahead with 2024’s presidential election, even as the polls showed Mr. Maduro heading for a decisive loss.

 

Diosdado Cabello, Interior Minister

Diosdado Cabello is the face of the country’s repression apparatus, according to rights groups, with oversight of Venezuela’s police forces and prisons. Over the past year, he has expanded his grip on Venezuela’s security forces, installing allies in key posts and supervising the systematic arrests of opposition sympathizers.

 

A retired lieutenant who was close to Mr. Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, Mr. Cabello has used his frequent public appearances and television show to criticize opponents and rally the governing-party faithful against the foreign threat. He is named alongside Mr. Maduro in the Justice Department indictment, and there is a $25 million U.S. reward for information leading to his arrest.

 

Vladimir Padrino López, Defense Minister

Venezuela’s highest-ranking military officer, Gen. Vladimir Padrino López, has for years been entrusted by Mr. Maduro with preserving the loyalty of the disparate factions of the country’s armed forces. He has occasionally made pro-democracy references in previous years, and media reports implicated him in a failed coup attempt against Mr. Maduro in 2019. But in public, General Padrino López has staunchly defended Mr. Maduro, and units under his command have suppressed anti-government protests over the years. Since Mr. Maduro was deposed, Mr. Padrino López has rejected any notion that the United States would run Venezuela.

 

Nicolás Maduro Guerra, Politician

Mr. Maduro’s son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, has been a member of Venezuela’s assembly since 2021. Mr. Maduro Guerra, 35, is named in President Trump’s indictment against his father, and is referred to as “the Prince” in the charging papers, which accuse him of conspiracy to import cocaine and possession of machine guns and destructive devices. “If we normalize the kidnapping of a head of state, no country is safe,” Mr. Maduro Guerra told legislators on Monday.

 

Pranav Baskar is an international reporter and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.