The Trump administration has instructed federal prosecutors in Miami to stop pursuing criminal investigations into Delcy Rodríguez, the acting President of Venezuela. The move represents a sharp pivot in US policy toward the South American nation, one that could reshape the geopolitical calculus around Venezuelan digital assets and sanctions enforcement.
This isn’t happening in a vacuum. The directive follows the dramatic US military capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026, an operation that removed a figure who had been the primary target of American narco-terrorism enforcement for years. Maduro and his wife have pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism charges in a New York federal court.
What’s actually happening
Federal prosecutors in Miami had opened a probe into Maduro’s government around March 2026, roughly two months after his capture. The investigation’s scope included Rodríguez, who has been a long-term focus of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Now, the administration is telling those same prosecutors to stand down. The reasoning appears strategic rather than exculpatory: stabilize Venezuela in the post-Maduro era rather than prosecute every member of the old regime.
