Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, declared Sunday that she has had enough of what she described as directives from Washington, delivering a defiant message to oil workers in a speech broadcast on the country’s state-run television.
Rodríguez’s remarks came a little more than three weeks after President Donald Trump announced that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been captured during a bold U.S. military raid in Caracas. Following that operation, Trump said the United States would take control of Venezuela’s oil industry and issue orders to the government as part of a new arrangement.
“Enough already of Washington’s orders over politicians in Venezuela,” Rodríguez told oil workers gathered in the city of Puerto La Cruz, according to CNN. She urged Venezuelans to handle their own political disputes internally.
“Let Venezuelan politics resolve our differences and our internal conflicts,” Rodríguez said. She added that the country has paid a heavy price for what she described as confronting fascism and extremism at home.
Despite the public pushback, Rodríguez has remained in power with Trump’s approval after Maduro was transferred to New York to face trial on criminal drug charges. The president allowed Rodríguez to stay on as acting president and has spoken favorably about her leadership since the takeover.
Trump said last week that Rodríguez had “shown very strong leadership so far” and praised her for doing “a very good job.” He also said she has been working with the United States on plans to move millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil into the American market.
“We’re working with them and they’ll get some of that, and we’re going to get some of that,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while returning from the World Economic Forum in Davos. He said the oil would be divided in a way he described as fair and beneficial to both countries.
Trump argued that the arrangement would make the United States wealthier, help lower taxes, and improve Venezuela’s economy. He said Venezuela would perform better than ever under the new framework, even as the U.S. takes what he called a very fair share of the oil revenue.
“And it’ll be divided up and our country will become richer and that means our taxes are going to be going down,” Trump said. “And they will do better. Venezuela’s going to do better than they’ve ever done.”
While Trump has not yet called for new elections in Venezuela, he has softened his stance toward opposition leader María Corina Machado. Initially, Trump said Machado lacked sufficient support inside the country. In recent weeks, however, he has grown more receptive to her role.
Trump met with Machado at the White House on Jan. 15, where she presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize. The gesture carried added significance, as Trump has openly expressed interest in receiving the honor himself.
Rodríguez’s comments Sunday appeared to reflect growing tension between Caracas and Washington even as cooperation continues behind the scenes on oil production and exports. Her message sought to assert Venezuelan sovereignty and signal resistance to what she framed as outside interference, even while acknowledging the dramatic changes reshaping the country’s political landscape since Maduro’s capture.
The competing messages underscore a fragile balance as Venezuela navigates a post-Maduro era marked by U.S. involvement, internal power struggles, and negotiations over the nation’s vast oil resources.
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