Meet The Maduro Cronies Scheming To Keep Power In Venezuela

Virtus Vincit The Daily Wire

Though former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro is in custody in New York following President Donald Trump’s operation to detain him, his loyal cronies remain in Venezuela where they are plotting their next move to ensure the regime’s continuity.

Trump has threatened to conduct a second “much larger attack if we need to do so,” but it hasn’t stopped Maduro’s inner circle from issuing defiant statements.

These are the cronies the world’s attention will be on as the future of Venezuela is determined.

Vice President Delcy Rodriguez

Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez speaks during a press conference in Caracas on September 8, 2025. (Photo by FEDERICO PARRA/AFP via Getty Images)

Venezuelan vice president Delcy Rodriguez condemned the capture of Maduro on Saturday and called for his release. She pushed back on Trump’s assertion that the United States would “run the country,” claiming that “the Venezuelan people and the country know very clearly, we will never return to being slaves.” Though she responded in a televised address on state television, her location is unknown.

According to Trump, when she spoke to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, she took a different tone. “We’ll do whatever you need,” Trump says she told Rubio. 

Trump also said that Rodriguez was sworn in as president, though the Venezuelan government has not said so publicly.

Rodriguez, 56, has been such a staunch ally of Maduro and supporter of his socialist government, that the former dictator has called her a “tiger.” She is the daughter of the left-wing guerrilla fighter Jorge Antonio Rodriguez who founded the Liga Socialista party in the 1970s. An attorney by trade, she is also the Minister of Petroleum and has had several roles in the Venezuelan government including President of the Constituent Assembly, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Popular Power for Communication and Information.

In 2018, she was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the European Union for being a member of Maduro’s inner circle and undermining democracy. She responded by saying sanctions against her were driven by “racist” and “warmongering” policies of the “old imperial world,” the Associated Press reported at the time. 

She was named vice president in 2018 by Maduro, who described her as “a young woman, brave, seasoned, daughter of a martyr, revolutionary and tested in a thousand battles.”

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello

Venezuela’s Minister of Interior Relations, Justice, and Peace, Diosdado Cabello, gestures as he speaks during a press conference of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) in Caracas, on December 8, 2025. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP via Getty Images)

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello is considered one of the most powerful men in Venezuela and one of the most feared members of Maduro’s inner circle. He appeared on television following the U.S. attack in a bulletproof vest and tactical helmet to urge citizens to remain calm in the wake of the attack that he said was carried out by the “criminal and terrorist” United States.

“Remain calm, let no one fall into despair, let no one make things easier for the invading enemy, the terrorist enemy that cowardly attacked us; let no one facilitate their actions,” Cabello said.

He also called upon international organizations to condemn the attack and said that the United States only achieved part of its objective, crediting the Venezuelan people for not respond “recklessly.”

“You, the world organizations, the international bodies, are you going to publicly acknowledge your complicity in the invading attack, in the murder of civilians, with bombs falling on buildings, in places inhabited by civilians? Are the international organizations going to be complicit in this massacre?” he said.

He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2018 for exploiting his various powerful government positions over the years to engage in extensive corruption, including narcotics trafficking, money laundering, embezzlement of state funds, and other illicit activities that enriched him at the expense of the Venezuelan people.

Cabello, 63, is a former army lieutenant who had close ties to former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the socialist leader who centralized power and laid the groundwork for Venezuela’s authoritarian rule and economic collapse.

He has previously served as Minister of Public Works and Housing, Minister of the Interior and Justice, Minister of Infrastructure, Director of the Venezuelan National Telecommunications Commission, and Governor of the state of Miranda.

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez

Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez speaks during a training session of the Bolivarian National Militia in Caracas on October 4, 2025. (Photo by PEDRO MATTEY/AFP via Getty Images)

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez responded to the attack by declaring in a recorded video that Venezuela will resist the presence of foreign troops. 

“This invasion represents the greatest outrage the country has ever suffered,” Padrino Lopez said. “They have attacked us but they will not vanquish us … we will form an indestructible wall of resistance. Our vocation is peace, but our heritage is the fight for freedom.”

Padrino Lopez, 43, labeled the attack “criminal military aggression by the government of the United States of North America.”

A four-star general, Padrino Lopez wields enormous power. He has had a long career in Venezuela’s military serving in a multitude of military posts, including strategic commander and chief of the general staff of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces.

Padrino Lopez was also hit by the 2018 U.S. Treasury sanctions for his ties to Maduro.

Jorge Rodriguez, president of the National Assembly

Venezuela’s National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez speaks during an extraordinary session at the National Assembly in Caracas on December 23, 2025. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP via Getty Images)

Jorge Rodriguez, who is the brother of Delcy and the president of the National Assembly, has yet to make public statements or appearances since Maduro was removed from power. He is reportedly in Caracas.

As one of Maduro’s closest political operators, 61-year-old Rodriguez has been a key strategist and figure in ensuring Maduro remained in power. Both he and his sister have strong ties to the economic elite who they helped build up.

He was also sanctioned in 2018 for his ties to Maduro and role in undermining democracy. His previous positions include minister of popular power for communication and information and vice president of Venezuela

© https://www.dailywire.com

Swiss Prosecutors Investigate Pair Who Ran Bar Over Deadly Blaze

Virtus Vincit The Daily Wire

Two people who ran a Swiss bar that burst into flames during a New Year’s Eve party, killing 40, are under criminal investigation on suspicion of offences including homicide by negligence, prosecutors said on Saturday.

Two days after the fire, in which 119 people suffered injuries including severe burns, officials were still trying to identify many of those killed and attention turned to how one of Switzerland’s worst tragedies could have occurred.

The bar’s two operators are suspected of offences including homicide by negligence, causing bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence, prosecutors in Valais, the canton that is home to the bar in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana, said in a statement. They did not name the pair.

“It was an enormous tragedy. We’re all so sorry that this had to happen,” Swiss Justice Minister Beat Jans told reporters, standing in front of the cordoned-off bar, Le Constellation.

He said temperatures during the blaze must have reached “500, 600 degrees (Celsius, 900-1,100 Fahrenheit)”.

Reuters was not immediately able to contact the bar’s owners for comment or reach the prosecutors to verify whether they were the people referred to.

Responding to the news of the criminal probe, residents still grieving over the sudden loss of life said it was important authorities get to the bottom of the case.

“We need a moment to reflect,” said one, Patricia Mazzoni, 55. “But afterwards, I’d like an independent investigation. An independent investigation to find out who failed here.”

Witnesses reported seeing staff at Le Constellation carrying so-called fountain candles atop bottles of champagne, and questions have also arisen about a foam material used to soundproof the ceiling of the basement where revellers danced.

Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships

Beatrice Pilloud, chief prosecutor of Valais, said indications were that the fire started because the sparklers got too near to the ceiling.

“From there, a rapid, very rapid and widespread blaze ensued,” she said on Friday afternoon.

Investigations will look at renovations made to the bar, the fire extinguishing systems and escape routes, as well as the number of people inside when the blaze began, prosecutors said.

Police arrived quickly at the scene, according to local residents, but the fire burned victims so severely that investigators said they would need days to identify the bodies.

Illustrating the painstaking nature of that work, the Valais prosecutors’ office said on Saturday that the police had identified the bodies of four Swiss victims aged between 16 and 21 – two female and two male – and returned them to their families. It did not name them.

On Friday, officials had only identified one of the dead, a teenage Italian international golfer, Emanuele Galeppini.

According to two people familiar with the investigation, some of the victims may be under 16.

Local residents said the bar was popular with young people and the Swiss government said many of the dead were likely youths. Beer and wine can be drunk from age 16 in Switzerland.

One of the bar’s two owners, Jacques Moretti, told the Tribune de Geneve newspaper that Le Constellation had been checked three times in 10 years and that everything was done according to the rules.

Stephane Ganzer, head of security in Valais, said the investigation would determine if the bar had undergone its annual building inspections, but that the town had not raised concerns or reported defects to the canton.

(Reporting by Dave Graham, Emma Farge, Tassilo Hummel and Benoit Van Overstraeten, Francois Murphy and Horaci GarciaEditing by Lisa Shumaker and Susan Fenton, Kirsten Donovan)

© https://www.dailywire.com

About Us

Virtus (virtue, valor, excellence, courage, character, and worth)

Vincit (conquers, triumphs, and wins)

Company