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Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez has appeared in U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) intelligence files dating back several years and was labeled a “priority target” in 2022, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The documents show the DEA has intelligence files on Rodríguez going back to at least 2018, with her name appearing in multiple investigations across several U.S. and international field offices, though she has never been publicly accused of any criminal wrongdoing, the outlet reported.
The DEA did not immediately respond to Digital’s request for comment.
The “priority target” designation is used by the agency to focus investigative resources on individuals or organizations believed to play a significant role in major drug trafficking or money laundering operations affecting the United States, according to a 2008 DEA assessment.
VENEZUELA’S ACTING PRESIDENT TOUTS ‘NEW POLITICAL MOMENT,’ HINTS AT FURTHER RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Delcy Rodríguez attend Maduro’s second-term swearing-in ceremony at Congress in Caracas on May 24, 2018. (Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images)
Rodríguez was formally sworn in as Venezuela’s new leader on Jan. 5, just two days after U.S. forces extracted Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from their compound in Caracas in an early-morning military operation.
Maduro and Flores were taken into U.S. custody and flown to New York to face federal charges.
Maduro is charged with four counts: narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine-guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine-guns and destructive devices. His wife is charged with three counts: cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine-guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine-guns and destructive devices.
TRUMP PLANS TO MEET WITH VENEZUELA OPPOSITION LEADER MARIA CORINA MACHADO NEXT WEEK
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 5: Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are seen in handcuffs after landing at a Manhattan helipad, escorted by heavily armed Federal agents as they make their way into an armored car en route to a Federal courthouse in Manhattan on January 5, 2026 in New York City. (XNY/Star Max/GC Images)
The White House has been working with Rodríguez in the weeks since Maduro was ousted. President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that he spoke with Rodríguez by phone and praised her as a “terrific person.”
“We discussed a lot of things and I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela,” he said.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado criticized Rodríguez as the Trump administration engages with the Maduro ally, arguing she does not represent the Venezuelan people.
Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez speaks during the presentation of the 2025 budget bill at the National Assembly in Caracas on Dec. 3, 2024. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)
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“I want to insist on this: Delcy Rodríguez, yes, she’s a communist. She’s the main ally and representation of the Russian regime, the Chinese and the Iranians, but that’s not the Venezuelan people and that’s not the armed forces, as well,” Machado said at a Heritage Foundation event on Friday.
“So I am profoundly, profoundly confident that we will have an orderly transition. This is a complex phase we are in right now. Some of the dirty work is being done by them,” she added. “But then, the result of a stable transition will be a proud Venezuela who is going to be the best ally the United States has ever had in the Americas.”
