Acting President Delcy Rodríguez is facing an intensifying backlash from within the socialist movement that brought her to power, five months after U.S. forces removed Nicolás Maduro. The rare public dissent, reported by The Wall Street Journal, exposes widening cracks inside Chavismo — the movement named after former President Hugo Chávez — as longtime loyalists struggle to reconcile a generation of anti-American rhetoric with a government that now depends heavily on U.S. support.
Former ministers, party intellectuals and leftist voices accuse Rodríguez of surrendering Venezuela’s sovereignty by pursuing closer ties with the Trump administration. Since Maduro’s removal on Jan. 3, according to the Journal, her government has rewritten energy and mining regulations to attract foreign capital, surrendered enriched uranium held at a research facility to the U.S., and extradited Maduro ally Alex Saab to Miami to face money-laundering charges.
Mario Silva, a founding member of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela and a longtime architect of the movement’s media apparatus, is among the loudest critics. For years Silva hosted a popular state-television program that attacked political opponents and denounced alleged U.S. interference. The show ended in March; he now broadcasts an online program criticizing Rodríguez’s rule.
“We’ve already lost our sovereignty, our freedom and our independence,” Silva said.
Other critics include former Vice President Elias Jaua, who has denounced Rodríguez’s economic changes and accused a small circle around the acting president of making decisions without consulting the movement’s traditional base. Left-wing academics and activists who once formed Chavismo’s intellectual backbone, the Journal reported, say they have been pushed aside as Rodríguez courts foreign investors and U.S. backing.
The criticism reflects an identity crisis inside a movement built around resistance to Washington by Chávez, who died from cancer in 2013.
Officials aligned with Rodríguez have dismissed the complaints. Jorge Arreaza, a pro-government lawmaker and former foreign minister, said there is “a psychological media campaign on social media against Chavismo.”
Rodríguez has said she is working with the U.S. to reverse the damage from years of mismanagement and sanctions. She has maintained support from much of Maduro’s ruling circle, including Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, the Journal reported. That has won praise from Washington, which has relaxed many of its punitive restrictions on Venezuela’s oil and financial sectors.
Some party members initially argued that Rodríguez deserved latitude to navigate the extraordinary transition. “It’s like trying to govern with a pistol pointed at your neck,” said former lawmaker Juan Contreras.
But patience has worn thin as U.S. influence has expanded, the Journal reported. Hard-liners were angered by an amnesty law signed by Rodríguez that released hundreds of dissidents, viewing it as an admission that the government had held political prisoners — something previous administrations denied. Others have bristled at symbolic changes, including Rodríguez’s shift away from the movement’s trademark red imagery to a light blue.
“Red used to mean combat,” Silva said. “The pale blue is to put the masses to sleep.”
Public polling suggests Rodríguez has struggled to build support beyond the coalition backing her relationship with Washington. Her approval rating fell to 25% in an AtlasIntel/Bloomberg poll conducted in late May, according to the Journal, while disapproval approached 60%. The same pollster had her approval at 37% in February.
For veterans of the movement, the grievances are both ideological and personal. Many spent decades defending a project that promised to stand up to the U.S. Now they watch American officials help shape Venezuela’s future while Chávez’s legacy recedes.
“We’re watching with pain as the figure of Commander Hugo Chávez is practically being erased,” Silva said.
The tensions have also revived questions about Maduro’s downfall. Many loyalists remain baffled by the lack of resistance when U.S. forces moved against the former president. Silva said many questions remain unanswered.
“I can’t accuse anyone else of treason,” he said. “But politically, there are many questions they need to answer.”