Though former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro is in custody in New York following President Donald Trump’s operation to detain him, his loyal cronies remain in Venezuela where they are plotting their next move to ensure the regime’s continuity. 
Trump has threatened to conduct a second “much larger attack if we need to do so,” but it hasn&#8217;t stopped Maduro’s inner circle from issuing defiant statements.
These are the cronies the world’s attention will be on as the future of Venezuela is determined.
Vice President Delcy Rodriguez
<div id="attachment_1022973" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1022973" class="size-large wp-image-1022973" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2233810048-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2233810048-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2233810048-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2233810048-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2233810048.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Venezuela&#8217;s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez speaks during a press conference in Caracas on September 8, 2025. (Photo by FEDERICO PARRA/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Venezuelan vice president Delcy Rodriguez condemned the capture of Maduro on Saturday and called for his release. She pushed back on Trump’s assertion that the United States would “run the country,” claiming that “the Venezuelan people and the country know very clearly, we will never return to being slaves.” Though she responded in a televised address on state television, her location is unknown.
According to Trump, when she spoke to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, she took a different tone. &#8220;We’ll do whatever you need,” Trump says she told Rubio. 
Trump also said that Rodriguez was sworn in as president, though the Venezuelan government has not said so publicly.
Rodriguez, 56, has been such a staunch ally of Maduro and supporter of his socialist government, that the former dictator has <a href="https://archive.is/o/7vljo/https://www.reuters.com/article/world/venezuelas-tiger-foreign-minister-rodriguez-quits-idUSKBN19D037/">called her</a> a “tiger.” She is the daughter of the left-wing guerrilla fighter Jorge Antonio Rodriguez who founded the Liga Socialista party in the 1970s. An attorney by trade, she is also the Minister of Petroleum and has had several roles in the Venezuelan government including President of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Constituent_Assembly_of_Venezuela">Constituent Assembly</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ministers_of_Foreign_Affairs_of_Venezuela">Minister of Foreign Affairs</a> and Minister of Popular Power for Communication and Information.
In 2018, she was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the European Union for being a member of Maduro’s inner circle and undermining democracy. She responded by saying sanctions against her were driven by “racist” and “warmongering” policies of the “old imperial world,” the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-b9dacdedc04c462b8966e756bbb7ff66">reported at the time.</a> 
She was named vice president in 2018 by Maduro, who <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/who-is-delcy-rodriguez-vice-president-who-could-replace-venezuelas-maduro-2026-01-03/">described</a> her as “a young woman, brave, seasoned, daughter of a martyr, revolutionary and tested in a thousand battles.&#8221;
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello
<div id="attachment_1022979" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1022979" class="size-large wp-image-1022979" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2250152843-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2250152843-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2250152843-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2250152843-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2250152843.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Venezuela&#8217;s Minister of Interior Relations, Justice, and Peace, Diosdado Cabello, gestures as he speaks during a press conference of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) in Caracas, on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello is considered one of the most powerful men in Venezuela and one of the most feared members of Maduro’s inner circle. He appeared on television following the U.S. attack in a bulletproof vest and tactical helmet to urge citizens to remain calm in the wake of the attack that he said was carried out by the “criminal and terrorist” United States.
&#8220;Remain calm, let no one fall into despair, let no one make things easier for the invading enemy, the terrorist enemy that cowardly attacked us; let no one facilitate their actions,&#8221; <a href="https://guce.yahoo.com/consent?brandType=nonEu&amp;gcrumb=LC5kQE4&amp;lang=es-US&amp;done=https%3A%2F%2Fes-us.noticias.yahoo.com%2Fdiosdado-cabello-llama-venezolanos-calma-104927247.html%3Fguccounter%3D1%26guce_referrer%3DaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8%26guce_referrer_sig%3DAQAAAHJTWwxD75oTMG8FQ_CHEIjAm7r7jxuzDsL3zsJcIJvCezZRzl3Khy5aaps5ppiNtDjNd3YicARdYGV2OnbfAzDc2IZhePfetBgFN3_21sFQ4Mb2ARt6w9EPBiPMI-k4MNsGDYU9C-yLQYuhTyJRhhsZO8ZAg4tX16bK8qa3qoEt">Cabello said.</a>
He also called upon international organizations to condemn the attack and said that the United States only achieved part of its objective, crediting the Venezuelan people for not respond “recklessly.”
“You, the world organizations, the international bodies, are you going to publicly acknowledge your complicity in the invading attack, in the murder of civilians, with bombs falling on buildings, in places inhabited by civilians? Are the international organizations going to be complicit in this massacre?&#8221; he said.
He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2018 for exploiting his various powerful government positions over the years to engage in extensive corruption, including narcotics trafficking, money laundering, embezzlement of state funds, and other illicit activities that enriched him at the expense of the Venezuelan people.
Cabello, 63, is a former army lieutenant who had close ties to former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the socialist leader who centralized power and laid the groundwork for Venezuela’s authoritarian rule and economic collapse.
He has previously served as Minister of Public Works and Housing, Minister of the Interior and Justice, Minister of Infrastructure, Director of the Venezuelan National Telecommunications Commission, and Governor of the state of Miranda.
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez
<div id="attachment_1022975" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1022975" class="size-large wp-image-1022975" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2238840387-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2238840387-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2238840387-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2238840387-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2238840387.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Venezuela&#8217;s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez speaks during a training session of the Bolivarian National Militia in Caracas on October 4, 2025. (Photo by PEDRO MATTEY/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez responded to the attack by declaring in a recorded video that Venezuela will resist the presence of foreign troops. 
“This invasion represents the greatest outrage the country has ever suffered,&#8221; Padrino Lopez <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/03/explosions-reported-venezuela-caracas">said</a>. “They have attacked us but they will not vanquish us … we will form an indestructible wall of resistance. Our vocation is peace, but our heritage is the fight for freedom.”
Padrino Lopez, 43, labeled the attack “criminal military aggression by the government of the United States of North America.”
A four-star general, Padrino Lopez wields enormous power. He has had a long career in Venezuela&#8217;s military serving in a multitude of military posts, including strategic commander and chief of the general staff of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces.
Padrino Lopez was also hit by the 2018 U.S. Treasury sanctions for his ties to Maduro.
Jorge Rodriguez, president of the National Assembly
<div id="attachment_1022977" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1022977" class="size-large wp-image-1022977" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2252652730-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2252652730-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2252652730-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2252652730-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2252652730.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Venezuela&#8217;s National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez speaks during an extraordinary session at the National Assembly in Caracas on December 23, 2025. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Jorge Rodriguez, who is the brother of Delcy and the president of the National Assembly, has yet to make public statements or appearances since Maduro was removed from power. He is reportedly in Caracas.
As one of Maduro’s closest political operators, 61-year-old Rodriguez has been a key strategist and figure in ensuring Maduro remained in power. Both he and his sister have strong ties to the economic elite who they helped build up.
He was also sanctioned in 2018 for his ties to Maduro and role in undermining democracy. His previous positions include minister of popular power for communication and information and vice president of Venezuela

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Meet The Maduro Cronies Scheming To Keep Power In Venezuela

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Meet The Maduro Cronies Scheming To Keep Power In Venezuela