Jorge Rodríguez: Venezuela’s Negotiator and Power Broker

PROFILE · VENEZUELA

Jorge Rodríguez, the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, was removed from the US sanctions list on Wednesday 14 October 2026. The 60-year-old psychiatrist is the brother of acting president Delcy Rodríguez and leads the government side in talks with the opposition.

For US companies, banks and diplomats, the delisting removes a legal barrier to dealing directly with the man who negotiates for Caracas. He has run Venezuela’s electoral authority, served as vice-president and fronted the government in several rounds of talks.

Who Jorge Rodríguez Is and Why the US Delisted Him

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which enforces US sanctions, posted the removal under its Venezuela programme on 14 October. The notice deleted every name variant listed for Jorge Jesús Rodríguez Gómez and gave no reason.

Venezuelan outlets Efecto Cocuyo and El Nacional both stressed that OFAC offered no explanation. Efecto Cocuyo noted that removal unblocks any assets he holds under US jurisdiction and lifts the ban on US persons dealing with him.

The US first sanctioned him on Tuesday 25 September 2018, when he was Nicolás Maduro’s communications minister. The same package hit his sister Delcy, Maduro’s wife Cilia Flores and the then defence minister, Vladimir Padrino López.

The Treasury said at the time that Maduro had given both Rodríguez siblings senior posts to help him keep power and solidify his authoritarian rule. It added that sanctions were meant to change behaviour and could be lifted for officials who helped restore democratic order.

His sister came off the list on Wednesday 1 April 2026, about three months after US forces captured Maduro and Flores in Caracas. Both are now in custody in New York awaiting trial, El Nacional noted on Wednesday.

From Electoral Chief to Caracas Mayor

Rodríguez trained as a psychiatrist and is the son of a political leader of the same name. His career has run in parallel with the rise of chavismo, the left-wing movement built around the late president Hugo Chávez.

He chaired the National Electoral Board for the 2004 recall referendum and led the electoral council (CNE) from 2005 to 2006. He has since called Venezuela’s electronic voting system one of the most reliable in the world.

He was sworn in as vice-president on Monday 8 January 2007 and held the post into 2008. On Sunday 23 November 2008 he was elected mayor of Libertador, the central Caracas municipality, and held the post until he joined the cabinet.

He joined the cabinet as minister for communication and information in late 2017. In January 2021 he became president of the National Assembly, the single-chamber parliament, and he has held the post since.

The Government’s Chief Negotiator

Rodríguez has fronted the government side in several attempts at a deal with the opposition. El Nacional cites his role heading delegations in talks held in the Dominican Republic and in Barbados.

He also headed the government delegation in the negotiations hosted by Mexico, the regional paper Correo del Caroní noted in July. He took part in signing the Barbados Agreement with the opposition Unitary Platform coalition in October 2023.

Critics see a darker record in the same years. El Nacional describes him as a key figure in repression and censorship who systematically rejected the opposition’s evidence of fraud after the 28 July 2024 election.

In 2026 he heads the government delegation in a new US-backed dialogue with the opposition-led National Assembly elected in 2015. His counterpart is Dinorah Figuera, who presides over that parliament’s Delegated Commission.

The first two rounds, in August and September, produced steps on justice reform, unblocked news websites and a committee to vet Supreme Court candidates. Four of that committee’s seven members were proposed by the opposition and three by the government side.

After the second accord was signed on Friday 25 September, Rodríguez told reporters Venezuela would hold four elections within constitutional deadlines. Some analysts read that as pointing to a presidential vote only in 2030, and opposition delegate Jorge Millán called the announcement unilateral.

A third round was due to start on Wednesday in a Caracas hotel, focused on political guarantees for an eventual election. Opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia are not part of the talks.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Figuera in Washington on Friday 9 October and urged progress on political freedoms and electoral reform. The State Department said such steps would lay the foundation for free, fair and credible elections.

The Power Broker in the National Assembly

Rodríguez was ratified as Assembly president on Monday 5 January 2026, two days after Maduro’s capture, as the new legislature was installed. A bloc of about a dozen opposition deputies led by Henrique Capriles and Stalin González voted against him.

That session ended with pledges from the ruling bloc to win Maduro’s return. Since then, El Nacional notes, the Assembly has passed reforms that open the oil sector to US investment.

He also steers the Assembly’s work on the courts and on speech laws that rights groups want repealed. On Tuesday 13 October he told the plenary that a draft reform of the Law Against Hatred had been sent to the Supreme Court for review.

That 2017 law carries prison terms of 10 to 20 years for publishing or promoting messages of hate, and the acting president’s proposal seeks to decriminalise those offences. The rights group Foro Penal counts 927 people charged with incitement to hatred since the law took effect.

His Assembly has still not named the committee that nominates Supreme Court judges, which had been promised for 15 October. On Tuesday 13 October its preliminary panel cited a record 127 applications and said the committee would be ready next week.

What It Means for US Readers

For US firms in oil, debt or investment talks, the man who chairs Venezuela’s legislature and leads its negotiating team is no longer off-limits. Companies should still check the wider Venezuela sanctions rules and take legal advice before any deal.

The removal follows his sister’s delisting in April and came on the day a new round of talks was due to begin. Washington has not said whether the timing is linked.

Efecto Cocuyo stressed that the measure covers only the US list and does not lift sanctions imposed by other countries. Any US visa restrictions fall under separate rules and are not mentioned in the OFAC notice.

Our news report US Delists Venezuela’s Jorge Rodríguez covers the OFAC notice itself. For the wider picture, see Venezuela Politics 2026, Who Holds Power After Maduro and Venezuela Explained: The Transformation, the Oil Economy and What to Watch.

What Is Not Known

OFAC has not explained why it acted, and we had found no official comment from Washington or Caracas by Wednesday afternoon. It is not known whether conditions or a licence are attached to the decision.

It is also unclear whether the third round of talks will produce an election date or a deal on political guarantees. Rodríguez has not stated any ambition beyond the Assembly presidency.

What Prediction Markets Say

On Polymarket, bets on who will be Venezuela’s de facto leader at the end of 2026 give Delcy Rodríguez 93.5% and her brother 0.15%. That market had about US$410,000 in total volume at 1:04 p.m. ET on Wednesday 14 October.

A separate Polymarket contract on whether a presidential election will be scheduled by 31 December prices that outcome at 10.5%. About US$144,000 has been traded on that line, and these figures are bets, not polls.

Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Jorge Rodríguez?

Jorge Rodríguez is president of Venezuela’s National Assembly and the brother of acting president Delcy Rodríguez. He is a psychiatrist who has also served as electoral council chief, vice-president, Caracas mayor and communications minister.

Why did the US remove Jorge Rodríguez from its sanctions list?

OFAC removed him from its Specially Designated Nationals list on Wednesday 14 October 2026 without giving a reason. The step came on the day a third round of government-opposition talks was due to begin in Caracas.

When was he first sanctioned?

The US Treasury designated him on 25 September 2018, when he was communications minister under Nicolás Maduro. His sister Delcy, Cilia Flores and Vladimir Padrino López were listed in the same package.

What role does he play in Venezuela’s talks?

He heads the government delegation in the US-backed dialogue with the 2015 National Assembly, whose side is led by Dinorah Figuera. He earlier led the government team in talks hosted by Mexico and took part in the 2023 Barbados Agreement.

Can US companies now do business with him?

US persons are no longer barred from dealing with him, and any assets he holds under US jurisdiction are unblocked. Firms should still check the wider Venezuela sanctions rules and take legal advice before any deal.

Sources: OFAC, Venezuela-related Designation Removal (14 October 2026) · US Treasury, 25 September 2018 designations · Efecto Cocuyo, OFAC delisting · Efecto Cocuyo, third round of dialogue · Efecto Cocuyo, second round review · Efecto Cocuyo, Assembly installed · Efecto Cocuyo, Law Against Hatred reform · El Nacional · Correo del Caroní · Descifrado

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief

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