The Department of Justice is preparing an indictment of the interim president of Venezuela, two months after the Trump administration captured and arraigned her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Miami is drafting possible corruption and money laundering charges against Delcy Rodriguez, Reuters reported Tuesday.
According to the report, the administration has told Rodriguez she could be prosecuted if she doesn’t do what Trump wants in what he has called “our new friend and partner” in South America.
The draft indictment has been in the works for the past two months, which aligns with when U.S. forces captured Maduro and brought him to the U.S. to face drug- and gun-related charges. He has pleaded not guilty.
The indictment reportedly relates to Rodriguez, 56, allegedly helping launder money from PDVSA, Venezuela’s state oil company, from 2021 to 2025.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Justice Department and the White House for comment.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche denied the report in a post on X.
“Completely FALSE from @reuters. Not sure how such fake news makes its way to publication," he wrote.
Reuters said it stood by its report.
Rodriguez was vice president from 2018, having previously worked as communications minister and then foreign minister. She was sworn in as interim president after Maduro’s capture in January and retains authority.
Some of what the Trump administration wants from Rodriguez is to arrest or keep in the country for potential extradition “at least seven former high-level party officials, associates and their family members,” according to the story. Many already have indictments in the U.S. for money laundering, drug trafficking, and other crimes.
One person, 54-year-old Alex Saab, is a Maduro ally who was extradited to the U.S. and released in 2023 in a prisoner swap. Saab was reportedly arrested early last month and could face new charges, sources told Reuters. Another source added that he would help the U.S. government’s case against Maduro.
Saab’s lawyer did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The Trump administration also has an interest in Venezuela’s oil reserves. Energy Secretary Chris Wright last month toured with Rodriguez oil production facilities at a joint venture between Chevron and PDVSA
That followed an agreement on energy cooperation, sanctions relief, and legal reforms opening Venezuela’s oil sector to more foreign investment.
