Jan 17 (Reuters) – Twelve days into the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, interim President Delsea Rodriguez is working to consolidate his power, installing loyalists in key positions to protect himself from internal threats while complying with U.S. demands to increase oil output.
A quiet but tough technocrat who is vice president and oil minister, Rodriguez, 56, has named a central banker, the president’s chief of staff and, crucially, a new head of Venezuela’s dreaded DGCIM, the military counterintelligence agency built over decades with Cuban help, to help steer the economy.
Major General Gustavo Gonzalez, 65, will now lead the agency, with many Venezuelans saying the biggest threat to his leadership is what Rodriguez described as an early gambit with three sources with knowledge of the government: Venezuela’s hard-line Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who has close ties to the security services and has killed “important” bicycle supporters in the opposition.
“She is very clear that she does not have the ability to live without the consent of the American people,” said one source close to the government. “She is already reforming the armed forces, firing people and naming new officers.”
Interviews with seven Venezuelan sources, diplomats, businessmen and politicians reveal in previously unreported detail the fault lines at the heart of Venezuela’s government and the risks that Rodriguez faces as he tries to strengthen internal controls while meeting the Trump administration’s order on oil sales. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
The tightrope Rodriguez is trying to walk was evident in his first major speech since taking office. Addressing parliament in a national annual address on Thursday, she called for unity, emphasized her goodwill as Maduro’s loyal deputy and promised to open a new chapter in Venezuelan politics by increasing oil investment.
Venezuela’s communications ministry, which handles all press inquiries for the government and individual officials, did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
The White House responded to emailed questions from Reuters regarding Trump’s recent comments to the news agency. In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Trump said Rodriguez had a “very good deal” and expected him to visit Washington at some point.
An internal competition
Rodriguez – nicknamed “The Tsarina” for her business connections – has extensive influence in the civilian levers of power, including the country’s vital oil industry, and now enjoys the support of the United States. That support was reiterated Thursday when Rodriguez met with CIA Director John Ratcliffe in Caracas.
Another main faction is led by Cabello.
Cabello, who also heads the ruling PSUV Samajwadi Party, is a former soldier with a weekly four-hour program on state television, which has run for 12 years. His first public act after Maduro’s capture was to appear on screen dressed in a flak jacket and surrounded by armed guards because he said “to doubt is to betray.”
Trump administration officials contacted Cabello months before the operation to capture Maduro and have been in communication with him, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, warning him not to use mass to target security services or the opposition.
Cabello, who was jailed for supporting socialist President Hugo Chavez in the failed 1992 coup in Venezuela, is on trial in the United States and has a $25 million reward for his capture.
So far, Cabello has been sympathetic to Rodriguez, saying they are “very united” and he arrived at Thursday’s national address with Rodriguez and his brother Jorge, the head of the National Assembly. But sources with knowledge of their relationship told Reuters that Cabello remains the biggest threat to his ability to govern.
In Caracas, security forces are reckless. Hours after Rodriguez was sworn in, there was a brief burst of anti-aircraft fire outside the presidential palace that some feared could be another U.S. attack. Instead, reports suggest it was a miscommunication between the police and the presidential guard, which led to the shooting down of the police drone. The government said the planes were spy drones, without disclosing who they were.
Across the country, people are reeling from the shock of Maduro’s capture and aren’t sure whether to be hopeful or fearful. In some places, local Socialist Party branches have asked members to spy on their neighbors and report anyone celebrating Maduro’s downfall, according to three party members who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In this tense environment, Rodriguez must convince party loyalists that he is not an American puppet betraying Maduro. He must also stabilize an economy that has seen prices of basic goods soar in the days since the US invasion, while wresting some degree of control over the vast military-linked patronage networks that have developed over decades of Chavismo rule.
Venezuela has more than 2,000 generals and admirals, more than double the number of the United States, a military superpower with 20 times more active duty and reserve forces. Senior and retired officials control food distribution, raw materials and state oil company PDVSA, while dozens of generals sit on the boards of private firms.
Many authorities are able to run their regional estates as they see fit – ordering patrols or checkpoints with soldiers under their command – and parts of the country and the capital Caracas have seen increased activity by security services since Maduro’s takeover.
Daman ‘already has a name’
González, the new head of the military counterintelligence agency DGCIM, has worked closely with Cabello throughout his long career in Venezuela’s government, particularly during two terms as head of a separate civilian spy agency.
Yet it is to Rodriguez that Gonzalez owes his most recent posts. In 2024, Rodriguez tapped Gonzalez for the top position at the state oil company, Venezuela’s most important company and the engine of the country’s economy.
Questions still remain about how much control Gonzalez will be able to exert over DGCIM. Cabello’s allies within the agency could undermine him, three sources with knowledge of the government said.
A source with knowledge of the inner workings of the security services said Gonzalez’s DGCIM predecessor, General Javier Marcano, struggled to control the agency.
“The role of Daman’s boss already has a name … Diasdado,” this person said. “Marcano was coordinating with (civilian) militias and groups, but he had serious difficulties controlling the DGCIM because his position was nominal.”
Reuters could not reach Marcano directly and all formal communications with Venezuelan officials are handled through the Communications Ministry, which did not respond to a list of questions related to this story.
Groups closely linked to Cabello could destabilize the country by implementing a so-called “anarchy” strategy, which was first designed to prevent US intervention but could be directed against Rodriguez, a source close to the government told Reuters. That strategy would mobilize intelligence services and groups to plunge Caracas into chaos and anarchy.
Cabello could also slow the pace of prisoner releases that Trump has welcomed. They are proceeding much more slowly than families and rights groups have demanded, creating a potential pressure point for Rodriguez.
Outside of Venezuela, though, the pressure on Cabello continues to mount.
“For the Trump administration to achieve a real transition in Venezuela, sooner or later Diosdado Cabello will have to face US justice,” US Representative Maria Elvira Salazar said at X this month. “When Diosdado is brought to justice, it will be a decisive step towards a democratic transition in Venezuela and the release of all political hostages.”
(Reporting by Reuters staff; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Michael Lermonth)
