Spain’s Courts Put Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez in an Awkward Spotlight
VENEZUELA · SPAIN
Key Facts
- —The country Venezuela has been led by acting president Delcy Rodríguez since 5 January, two days after US forces captured Nicolás Maduro.
- —Why it matters Rodríguez met Spain’s prime minister and Donald Trump in New York last week. Spanish press reports now tie her name to two criminal inquiries.
- —What happened On 26 September El Mundo reported that a Spanish court is examining hundreds of her messages with a businessman about oil deals.
- —Who is involved Separately, a former Venezuelan diplomat was arrested at Madrid airport on 8 September with 50 kilos of cocaine, and a serving vice-consul was later detained, Spanish and Venezuelan outlets report.
- —What it means for you No court has charged Rodríguez. But the reports add legal and political risk to European dealings with her government.
- —Still open Whether judges will seek her testimony, and how far the cocaine network reached. The reports carried no response from Caracas.
This story is part of our coverage of the Spain election 2026. The live odds, the polls and every report on the 29 November vote are in our Spain election 2026 dossier.
This story is part of our coverage of the Venezuela US tensions. Who runs Venezuela, the US sanctions and oil deals, the Maduro case and the odds are in our dossier.
Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s acting president, has surfaced in Spanish reporting on two criminal inquiries, one about oil deals and one about cocaine. None of the reports says she has been charged or formally named a suspect.
The Colombian newspaper El Colombiano pulled the threads together on Sunday. It drew on the Spanish outlets El Mundo, The Objective and ABC.
The oil messages
The National Court, Spain’s tribunal for major corruption and organised crime, is examining hundreds of her messages with Víctor de Aldama, El Mundo reported on 26 September. Aldama is a Spanish businessman who handed the chats to the courts while cooperating with investigators.
The chats are part of a case into alleged illegal funding of Spain’s governing Socialist Party, El Nacional of Caracas reported. They were exchanged on Threema, an encrypted messaging app.
One exchange from June 2021 concerns a fuel-oil offer from a firm called Pegaso Energy, El Colombiano and the broadcaster Blu Radio reported. Others mention cargoes of hundreds of thousands of barrels and transfers to Russian bank accounts.
The court asked the Civil Guard’s central investigations unit, known as UCO, to verify the material, El Colombiano reported.
The cocaine arrests in Madrid
The second thread is a drug case. A former Venezuelan diplomat was arrested at Madrid-Barajas airport on Tuesday 8 September, report the Venezuelan site El Pitazo and The Objective. El Mundo first reported the arrest on 21 September.
The man, a former minister-counsellor at Venezuela’s embassy in Madrid, had 50 kilos of cocaine in his luggage, both outlets report. El Pitazo names him as José Rafael Escorihuela Pereira; The Objective calls him José Manuel Escorihuela.
The Objective says he flew in from the Dominican Republic on a diplomatic passport. A second man detained in the case, Kelvin Jesús Matos, was serving as vice-consul in Madrid and a former brother-in-law of Maduro’s son, El Pitazo reported.
Where Rodríguez comes in
Her link to the drug case is indirect. Escorihuela long served as a close aide to Coromoto Godoy, a former ambassador to Spain whom Rodríguez named UN ambassador in March, The Objective reported.
Blu Radio stressed that the drug investigation does not accuse Rodríguez of anything. Nothing in the reports suggests she knew of the shipment.
The reports land days after Spain’s Sánchez and Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez agreed to keep talking at the UN General Assembly.
What Is Not Yet Known
It is not known whether the judge intends to question Rodríguez, or what weight the Aldama messages carry as evidence. The drug case is under judicial secrecy, which bars disclosure of its scope.
It is also unclear whether the two arrests point to a wider network using diplomatic passports. The Civil Guard is examining that question, according to The Objective.
None of the reports carried a response from Rodríguez or Venezuela’s foreign ministry.
More: Venezuela news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Delcy Rodríguez in Spanish court news?
El Mundo reported on 26 September that a Spanish court is examining hundreds of her messages with a businessman about oil deals.
Is Rodríguez charged with anything?
No. No court has charged her, but the reports add legal and political risk to European dealings with her government.
What is the cocaine case?
A former Venezuelan diplomat was arrested at Madrid airport on 8 September with 50 kilos of cocaine; a serving vice-consul was later detained.
Who is Delcy Rodríguez?
Venezuela’s acting president since 5 January, two days after US forces captured Nicolás Maduro; she met Spain’s prime minister and Donald Trump in New York last week.
Sources: El Colombiano, 27 September 2026; Blu Radio, 27 September; El Nacional, 28 September, citing El Mundo; The Objective, 27 September; El Pitazo, 24 September, and El Pitazo, 23 September.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error
Spain's Election and Pedro Sánchez
- How Spain Got Here: Pedro Sánchez’s Eight Years in Power
- Why Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez Could Lose His Job
- Spain’s Next Leader? Meet Alberto Núñez Feijóo
- Spain Explained 2026, How It Ranks in Europe