CARACAS – In the 12 days following the U.S. seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, interim President Delcy Rodriguez has moved swiftly to secure her leadership by appointing loyalists to critical posts, including a new head of the DGCIM military counterintelligence agency, while navigating U.S. demands for increased oil production.
The 56-year-old technocrat, formerly vice president and oil minister, has installed a central banker for economic oversight, a presidential chief of staff, and Major General Gustavo Gonzalez, 65, to lead DGCIM, a force shaped with Cuban aid, as a strategic check against Diosdado Cabello, the hardline interior minister and PSUV party leader tied to security services and colectivos gangs.
Sources close to the government describe Rodriguez’s reforms, including military reshuffles, as essential for survival with American consent, amid a power struggle that risks destabilizing her fragile rule.Rodriguez’s balancing act shone in her Thursday parliamentary address, where she urged unity, affirmed loyalty to Maduro, and promised oil investment to revive Venezuela’s battered economy, even as prices for essentials have spiked post-capture.
Backed by a Thursday meeting with CIA Director John Ratcliffe in Caracas, she controls key civilian sectors like PDVSA, but faces Cabello’s faction, bolstered by his state TV platform, armed rhetoric like “to doubt is to betray,” and U.S.-warned threats from militias, despite his public show of unity. Tensions simmer with skittish security forces, misfired anti-aircraft incidents mistaken for attacks, local spying on Maduro critics, and over 2,000 generals dominating patronage networks in food, materials, and private firms.
Gonzalez, with past ties to Cabello but recent Rodriguez patronage at PDVSA, may struggle against entrenched DGCIM allies and colectivos poised for “anarchization” chaos, as slow political prisoner releases add pressure from Washington. Trump praised Rodriguez as “very good to deal with” in a Reuters interview, expecting her Washington visit, while U.S. voices like Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar demand Cabello’s capture, under a $25 million bounty, to enable true transition. Venezuela reels in uncertainty, with Rodriguez urging party faithful she is no U.S. puppet amid fears of retaliation and economic turmoil.