In a surprising turn of events, senior figures within the Venezuelan regime, including Delcy Rodríguez and her brother Jorge, the head of the national assembly, secretly assured US and Qatari officials that they would welcome the departure of President Nicolás Maduro, according to four high-level sources involved in the discussions.
The communications between US officials and Delcy Rodríguez, who was then Maduro’s vice-president, began in the fall of 2025 and continued after a crucial phone call between Trump and Maduro in late November, where the US president insisted that Maduro leave Venezuela. Maduro, however, rejected the demand.
By December, one American involved in the discussions told the Guardian that Delcy Rodríguez had communicated to the US government that she was “ready” and said, “Maduro needs to go. I’ll work with whatever is the aftermath.”
The pledge of cooperation by Delcy and Jorge Rodríguez before the Maduro raid has not been previously reported. In October, the Miami Herald had reported on abortive negotiations via Qatar, in which Delcy offered to act as a transitional government chief if Maduro stepped down.
Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s powerful interior minister who controls the police and security forces, had also been in discussions with the US months before the Maduro operation, according to Reuters.
The sources insist that this was not a coup engineered against Maduro by the Rodríguez siblings. While they promised to assist the US once Maduro was gone, they did not agree to actively help the US to topple him.
Hours after the raid, Trump appeared to confirm the talks, telling the New York Post that Delcy Rodríguez was “onboard” and that the US had “spoken to her numerous times, and she understands, she understands.”
The sources say that Marco Rubio, Trump’s secretary of state and national security adviser, was initially sceptical about working with regime elements but came to believe that Delcy Rodríguez’s promises were the best way to prevent chaos once Maduro was gone.
The Venezuelan government did not respond to emailed questions concerning this story, and the White House did not respond to detailed questions.
This exclusive report sheds light on the complex web of backroom negotiations and power dynamics that unfolded behind the scenes before the dramatic capture of Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.
