Venezuela’s Delcy Rodriguez coordinated with Trump, promised to work with US oil firms before Maduro’s capture: Report

One key, behind-the-scene person in the entire Venezuelan saga that led to the arrest of its president, Nicolas Maduro, was reportedly Delcy Rodriguez, his vice president, who has since been set as the interim president by US President Donald Trump, sidelining the likes of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado. In the run up to Maduro’s capture, Rodriguez was coordinating with Trump. 

According to a report in The Guardian, Rodriguez and her brother promised to cooperate with Trump and his team once Maduro was gone. Rodriguez and her brother told US and Qatari officials through intermediaries that they would welcome Maduro’s departure. 

Rodriguez communicated that ‘Maduro needs to go’ and that she would work with whatever is the aftermath, the report stated citing sources. However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was initially sceptical about working with regime elements but came around to believe Rodriguez’s promises.

Multiple sources revealed that while the Rodriguez siblings promised to assist the US once Maduro was gone, they never agreed to help the US topple him. The report stated that key Trump aides continued official talks with Delcy and Jorge Rodriguez, often to coordinate for the biweekly flights of Venezuelans that were deported from the US.

Rodriguez also retained very close personal ties with Qatar, with members of the ruling party considered a friend. She tried to propose a transition government led by her if Maduro agreed to a prearranged retirement in a safe haven. 

By October, Americans who were most against Maduro were open to working with Rodriguez, the report added. One of her key promises was to work with US oil companies. She was also well acquainted with Americans in the oil business. 

It was however, late fall, when the Rodriguez siblings engaged in discussions with the US behind Maduro’s back. Maduro spoke to Trump in November and it was clear that he would not leave.

Sources told the news site that Rodriguez did not “actively betray” Maduro, and that she feared him.

When the US landed in Caracas to capture Maduro, Rodriguez was nowhere to be found. Sources said that she was in Margarita Island, a Venezuelan vacation spot.