If you read my Venezuela updates, you know I like to call the current “acting president” Delcy Rodríguez something like “Donald Trump’s little pawn” or “MAGA Delcy.” A lot of Venezuelan exiles have similar nicknames for the woman who, just over two months ago was Nicolás Maduro’s anti-United States, Communist “vice president,” but is now calling Trump a “partner and friend” and rolling out the red carpet for U.S. officials like she’s hosting the potluck dinner down at the First Methodist, and the Trump administration just walked in with a platter of fried chicken.
We know she’s not doing this by choice. She’s just saving her own backside from a fate similar to or worse than Maduro’s. We knew Trump was using military leverage to make that happen — he’s said as much with his promise of a “second wave” — but now Reuters is reporting that he’s working up some legal leverage as well.
On Tuesday, the media outlet claimed “that Trump’s Justice Department is quietly preparing a criminal indictment against Delcy.” The charges have to do with money laundering and corruption, and Trump is supposedly backing the plan.
It would make sense. Before she went full MAGA, Delcy has allegedly been on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)’s radar since at least 2018.
Even so, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche came out later in the day and said “fake news.”
“Completely FALSE from Reuters,” he posted on X. “Not sure how such fake news makes its way to publication.”
Completely FALSE from @reuters. Not sure how such fake news makes its way to publication. pic.twitter.com/BDaZJ0umfa
— Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) March 3, 2026
Despite this, Reuters stands by it story, even though it’s one of those “anonymous sources” type of things. Spanish White House reporter David Alandete also claims the story is true, and he tends to be more accurate than most.
In cases like this, I like to side with named Trump administration officials over MSM outlets with anonymous sources, but I have to admit that I really want this to be true, so my wishful thinking is giving me a reason to pause and wonder if Blanche has to say that so Delcy doesn’t get any bright ideas.
Whatever the case is, I can’t stress enough that Delcy is not a bridge to democracy. She’s the daughter of a radical Marxist revolutionary who has that same way of thinking written all over soul. She finds Western political models fictitious, and she believes the U.S. is all about imperialism. She’s been sanctioned by numerous countries, has knowingly violated the human rights of Venezuelans held in the torture centers, and allegedly has ties to illicit international networks, including well-known terrorist organizations.
That didn’t suddenly change on January 3 because she had a spiritual awakening. Unless you count this as the spirit that did the awakening…
Anyway, Trump continues to praise Delcy, which is making a lot of people uneasy, but she is largely doing everything he tells her to. The oil is flowing. The political prisoners are sort of flowing — 621 have been released since the process began on January 8, including now, some members of the military who were initially delayed. Unfortunately, there are still hundreds more to go.
Here’s something kind of funny: On Saturday, after we struck Iran, the Venezuelan regime’s Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, came out condemning the use of military force rather than continuing diplomatic talks. He didn’t name the United States or Israel specifically, and he also condemned Iran for retaliating. The hardline Chavistas didn’t like this and saw it as siding with the U.S. After all, the Venezuelan and Iranian regimes are great friends and allies.
A few hours later, the message was deleted from all social media accounts. However, Delcy posted about standing in solidarity with Qatar, which was, again, seen as U.S./Gulf States alignment instead of support for Iran.
While Delcy is more useful idiot than bridge to democracy, the woman who is Venezuela’s hope for a democratic future, opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, made a big announcement on Sunday.
“Because the world knows it today: the transition to democracy in Venezuela is unstoppable,” she said. “For years we said that this regime would only relinquish power when confronted with real force and a credible threat. First we had to defeat them spiritually, then politically, then electorally, and finally militarily. We said it was going to happen, and it did… President Donald Trump, with vision and courage, brought Nicolás Maduro to justice before international courts.”
She went on to thank “the people of the United States, their government, their congressmen, their judges, and their military men and women who risked their lives for the freedom of Venezuela and for the national security of their country and the security of all the Americas.”
She also pointed out that the “regime that is in power in Venezuela today is of the same nature. They are the ones who have tortured, persecuted, imprisoned, disappeared, murdered, expropriated, and lied.” But she added that “everything changed and now they have to follow instructions to move forward with dismantling the repression, the economic recovery of our country and to advance towards the transition.”
Machado said she’s spent the last few months since her daring escape from Venezuela meeting with Trump, Marco Rubio, members of the U.S. congress, other international heads of state, human rights organizations, and countless other VIPs, explaining the potential a democratic Venezuela can bring to the world. Now, she says, she’s ready to make it to happen and will be returning within weeks to get started:
We have an agenda, a roadmap to follow.
First, to strengthen the unity of Venezuelans, which began with the primaries and progressed with the local and regional commands, with political and social organizations, to achieve the great victory of July 28th.
Secondly, to finish consolidating our great national agreement with political and social organizations and leaders to establish the consensus needed to achieve governance throughout this transition process and in democratic Venezuela.
And thirdly, to prepare for a new and gigantic electoral victory.
For all of this, I will return to Venezuela in a few weeks.
She ended by rallying her base, which I might add is a large portion of the Venezuelan population in and outside of the country (I’ve never see such an organically unified opposition): “Let’s get ready. A big task is coming. Freedom is coming and we walk hand in hand with God until the end.”
While she didn’t mention a specific date, it’s interesting to consider she could go back to Venezuela soon. It’s risky, but no one has fought harder and given up as much for the freedom of that country than Machado has, and she’s not going to stop now. It’s also possible that this was a message to inspire hope. As I said, Trump’s constant praise of Delcy isn’t going over very well with a lot of Venezuelans and non-Venezuelans as well.
One last thing I want to mention is that Venezuela’s real president-elect, Edmundo González, is suffering from some health issues at the moment. He currently lives in exile in Spain and is reportedly being treated for a “hip ailment.” The former diplomat who stepped in as a surrogate when Maduro banned Machado from running for president in 2024 is 76 years old, so I hope it’s nothing too serious.
Ultimately, what I take from all of this is that we’re getting closer to a free Venezuela, and it’s going much faster than I think anyone realized.
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