Following the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s new interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, has sparked concerns of perpetuating the existing regime. A former Venezuelan official has raised alarms, particularly highlighting Rodríguez’s alleged disdain for Western countries.

The appointment of Rodríguez, according to the official, reflects the Venezuelan government’s ongoing reliance on Maduro’s inner circle rather than introducing fresh leadership. This situation, the official warns, maintains what they termed as “the axis of evil” in a geopolitical standoff located just a few hours from Miami.

Rodríguez, who previously served as Venezuela’s vice president and oil minister, assumed the presidential role on Monday. This followed Maduro’s ousting and subsequent court appearance in New York on charges related to drug trafficking.

“The regime remains unchanged, and she harbors animosity towards the West,” the insider shared with Fox News Digital, opting for anonymity.

Addressing the media in Caracas on March 10, 2025, Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez discussed the developments. (Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters)

“Delcy has transitioned from being a fairly unremarkable lawyer to leading one of Latin America’s wealthiest nations,” the source commented.

“She has probably been in every post, because they rotate the same people because they don’t have anybody else that they trust.

‘Delcy is a very close and trustworthy person for Maduro and was also the same for Chávez.”

President Donald Trump said Saturday that Rodríguez, 56, stood “willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”

Rodríguez, who has served as foreign minister, president of the Constituent Assembly, vice president, and oil minister, was sworn in by her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, the head of the National Assembly.

Born in Caracas, Rodríguez is the daughter of Marxist guerrilla leader Jorge Antonio Rodríguez, a co-founder of the Socialist League.

He was arrested in connection with the 1976 kidnapping of American businessman William F. Niehous and later died in police custody, according to the New York Times.

“That ordeal is the foundation and the origin of Delcy’s hatred of the West and of democracy,” the source said, before claiming, “her whole background was Marxist.”

A side-by-side photo of President Donald Trump and Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. (Joe Raedle/Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images)

“The guerrilla Marxist element kidnapped an American executive in 1976 and he was held for three years until authorities located the group hiding in the Amazon jungle,” the source said.

Rodríguez’s tenure as foreign minister was also marked by controversy, the source claimed, including allegations that Venezuelan passports, birth certificates, and nationalities were illegally sold abroad, according to reports.

At the 2016 United Nations General Assembly, Rodríguez said the allegations were untrue.

“There were some passports being sold in Iraq, and they were giving birth certificates to terrorists,” the source said.

In 2018, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Rodríguez, citing her role as a senior official in the Maduro government. Those sanctions remain in place.

She was also said to have been implicated in the so-called “Delcygate” scandal in 2020 after allegedly making a secret stop in Spain despite sanctions on her, as reported by Spanish media. 

Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez leaves Argentina’s Foreign Ministry in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016. Mercosur Foreign Ministers from Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina met for a Mercosur Foreign Ministers summit in Buenos Aires Wednesday. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

Reports alleged she was transporting gold into Europe, a claim Rodríguez has denied.

“She had 40 bags full of gold in a private jet as vice president,” the source alleged. “They put the bags through the X-ray, and they found the gold.” 

“Venezuela has become an occupied territory by Iran, China, Russia, and Cuba,” the source added, citing armed groups including FARC and ELN controlling large parts of the country.

“Delcy is the interim, but all of these groups are part of the cohort from Chávez that came from communist mindsets against the West that she came from.”

“We now see the axis of evil in a geopolitical struggle three hours from Miami,” the source added.

“There are atrocity crimes committed by all of this group, plus there’s kleptocracy and grand corruption, which are all still in place,” the source said.