VENEZUELA’S Acting President Delcy Rodriguez is known for her anti-imperialist rhetoric, earning her the nickname “the tigress” from toppled leader Nicolas Maduro.

A fierce defender of Maduro, who was snatched by US forces in an extraordinary raid early last Saturday, Rodriguez is now seeking to portray herself as a steady hand to lead the country’s political transition.

She was sworn in early Monday as Venezuela’s new interim president, having quickly denounced the US operation as a violation of the United Nations founding charter and a unilateral attempt to force regime change on Saturday. But she soon adopted a more conciliatory tone.

Trump said Saturday that the US had been in contact with Rodríguez and “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again”.

But in an interview with The Atlantic published on Sunday he added a warning: “If she doesn’t do what’s right she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.”

A lawyer by training, 56-year-old Rodriguez has served in successive governments of Maduro and his firebrand predecessor Hugo Chavez, including as foreign minister.

Maduro’s vice-president since 2018, she also assumed the role of minister of hydrocarbons in 2024 — a key post in a country whose economy depends on oil exports.

Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, and US President Donald Trump has made clear that regaining access to that wealth is a key goal of his pressure campaign.

“She has probably been one of Maduro’s most trusted people over the years,” political analyst Pedro Benitez of the Central University of Venezuela told AFP.

Hours after Maduro’s capture, Rodriguez insisted he remained the “only president” of Venezuela, demanded his release, and said the Government in Caracas stood ready “to defend” the country.

Venezuela’s Supreme Court subsequently ordered her to assume presidential powers “in an acting capacity” — the first woman to hold the top post in the country, even temporarily.

On Sunday, the military — which had repeatedly vowed loyalty to Maduro — recognised her as the country’s interim leader.

Rodriguez wears pink, beige, and green rather than the bright red colours traditionally donned by members of the Chavista movement — named after Chavez and led by the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

Her brother is Jorge Rodriguez, the head of Venezuela’s Parliament, and their father was a Marxist activist who died in custody in 1976 under a then-centre left Government.

The siblings, “have been involved in every internal manoeuvre in which Maduro has pushed out any power centres that cast a shadow over him”, said Benitez.

Rodriguez served as a lawmaker for many years before being taken up in successive Chavista governments, helped by her brother, a PSUV insider.

“She didn’t have a political base of her own,” said Benitez.

But she soon proved herself as a full-blooded Chavista, and became a Maduro confidante.

From 2020 to 2024, while serving as both vice-president and economy minister, Rodriguez cooled her incendiary rhetoric to make inroads with Venezuela’s business community, long demonised by socialist leaders.

She eased trade controls in the de facto dollarised economy, providing a breather for business leaders who still view her as a savvy economic manager.

Despite her very high profile role in the Maduro regime, however, Rodríguez has not been indicted on any criminal charges in the US, though she was hit with sanctions imposed during President Trump’s first term for her role in helping Maduro “maintain power and solidify his authoritarian rule”.