Delcy Rodriguez, declared the interim president of Venezuela after Nicolas Maduro’s capture by US forces, is one of the iron fists in Venezuelan politics, a practitioner of economic orthodoxy who has strived to build relationships with the private sector and who is known for her taste for luxury.

Over more than a decade in public life, the 56-year-old Rodriguez has amassed significant influence, earning her the nickname “the tsarina” (the title for a tsar’s wife in imperial Russia) while Maduro has called her a “tigress” for her staunch defense of his socialist government, which has presided over a deep economic crisis, alleged torture and arbitrary detentions and the exodus of some 8 million migrants.

She has been vice president since 2018, simultaneously serving first as finance minister and then as oil minister. Before that she was communications minister, foreign minister and the head of a pro-government legislature. She works closely with........

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