Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez meets CIA Director John Ratcliffe at Simon Bolivar International Airport, La Guaira state, on Thursday, January 15, 2026. Photo: CIA.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—The Venezuelan government on Sunday denied reports circulating on social media regarding an alleged award presented by acting President Delcy Rodríguez to CIA Director John Ratcliffe last Thursday.
Through an X post by “Miraflores’ official rapid response,” a recently created government account, officials characterized the reports as “malicious information.” Analysts noted that such claims seek to undermine the responsibility assumed by Rodríguez on January 5, following the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores by US military forces.
“We categorically deny the malicious information circulating on social media about an alleged awarding of honors to foreign intelligence agencies,” the post reads.
Desmentimos categóricamente la información malintencionada que circula en redes sociales sobre una supuesta condecoración con honores a agencias de inteligencia extranjeras. pic.twitter.com/nR4cumsYCr
— Miraflores Al Momento (@AlMomento_M) January 18, 2026
Since her appointment as acting president, Rodríguez has reiterated that Venezuela remains open to maintaining channels of dialogue with the US based on respect and adherence to Venezuela’s constitution.
The meeting took place within the framework of the strategy to rescue the presidential couple and preserve peace in the nation. The acting president had already warned that some tactical actions might raise doubts, but she asked for confidence in the civic-military high command. She explained that the Chavista leadership is facing an adversary that “does not operate within the bounds of human rationality.”
Unofficial reports on the CIA visit
Venezuelan authorities have not made official comments on Ratcliffe’s visit despite numerous international reports confirming the meeting. According to experts, a photo circulating on social media to support the “fake news” of an award is a clear artificial intelligence manipulation of an original photo released by mainstream media, evidently by US officials.
Reports on Ratcliffe’s visit to Caracas claim the Thursday meeting lasted two hours. He reportedly traveled “at President Trump’s direction” to deliver a message that the United States expects an improved working relationship with Venezuela, according to La Tabla.
The Venezuelan outlet additionally reported that the meeting solidifies a key political decision by the Trump administration: to back Delcy Rodríguez, a high-ranking historical Chavista leader, instead of far-right opposition politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado. Regarding Machado’s leadership, the US ruler has noted on several occasions that she lacks internal support in Venezuela, despite US claims since the 2024 presidential elections that her surrogate candidate, Edmundo González, won the contest by a landslide.
Machado met with Trump on Friday and presented him with her Nobel Prize medal in a desperate attempt to receive the “blessing” of the US ruler to lead an improbable transition in Venezuela. However, the White House stated clearly after the meeting that she does not have the internal support required to lead Venezuela.
Diplomatic relations with ‘Israel’
In addition to the meeting between Rodríguez and the CIA director, a separate proposal has sparked internal controversy. During a meeting Friday at the Teresa Carreño Theater in Caracas involving legal experts working for the release of the presidential couple, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, the son of the kidnapped president, hinted at the possibility of resuming diplomatic relations between Venezuela and the Zionist entity, “Israel.”
While Deputy Maduro Guerra is not part of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela’s Political Bureau and holds relatively low influence over Chavista leadership decisions, the mere proposal of such an idea has raised a heated internal debate among Chavistas.
Renowned Venezuelan pro-Palestinian activist Hindu Anderi wrote on social media: “I will never agree to ‘resume’ relations with the so-called state of ‘Israel,’ a Zionist colonial, racist, supremacist, fascist, and genocidal regime. Much less at this moment in humanity. On this, with great affection I say, we will never agree! @nicmaduroguerra.”
Another prominent Chavista influencer, Luigino Bracci, added: “With all due respect, I hope that Comrade Nicolás Maduro Guerra’s proposal to resume diplomatic relations with ‘Israel’ is not listened to. In many, many other things you can count on me completely, but not on that one. Absolutely in disagreement. @nicmaduroguerra.”
Replying to Anderi’s post, Bracci noted the ethical and human toll of the proposal: “I agree with you, Hindu, not only for ethical reasons, but because of the 70,000 men, women, and children who were murdered … because the genocide continues and they are being driven from their lands. Also think about what all the social movements around the world and the millions of people who have marched for Palestine will think of us, if we do that.”
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Analysts claim that while high-level communication with US officials is understood by the Chavista movement under current circumstances, the idea of resuming diplomatic relations with “Israel”—severed by President Hugo Chávez in 2009—represents a significant shift in the ethical scope of Chavismo.
Jesus Rodriguez-Espinoza, editor of Orinoco Tribune, expressed total agreement with Anderi and Bracci. He added that Maduro Guerra’s proposal is also counterproductive for the recently launched international campaign to bring the presidential couple back home, especially in the US, where the majority of those supporting Venezuela in recent days also oppose the “Israeli” genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Rodríguez-Espinoza also noted that the recent replacement of Freddy Ñáñez with Miguel Pérez Pirela as head of the Ministry for Communication and Information might be related to the acting president’s desire to address information shortcomings. He suggested these gaps may be a natural result of the extraordinary circumstances Venezuela has faced in recent days following the US military attack.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/JB
