Former Republican Representative David Rivera, long close to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was found guilty in May of secretly lobbying to change Washington's position on the government of Nicolás Maduro, in exchange for a $50 million consulting contract with the state oil company PDVSA. This October 2, a Miami judge imposed a 10-year prison sentence on him for these activities, which involved the current president in charge of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez.

First modification: 03/10/2026 - 04:20Last modification: 03/10/2026 - 04:20

“The Lady in Red.” That was the code name for Delcy Rodríguez, today interim president of Venezuela and Foreign Minister in 2017. Court documents reveal that at that time it was she who recruited a former Republican representative, David Rivera, to try to influence the position of the Trump Administration towards the Government of Nicolás Maduro during the magnate's first time in the White House.

Rivera was a former ally of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with whom he even shared a residence in Tallahassee, at the beginning of both of their political careers.

As legislators from Florida, first for the state and then federally, both shared the classic anti-communist rhetoric of conservative politicians in that state, where the vote of the community of Cuban (and now Venezuelan) exiles and migrants has decisive weight.

However, at the same time that he publicly condemned the governments of Havana and Caracas, Rivera lobbied in favor of Nicolás Maduro, to try to change Trump's position.

Read also: What was the 'modus operandi' of the former Republican congressman guilty of lobbying for Chavismo?

He did so without registering as a lobbyist for a foreign government, as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a crime of which he was found guilty by a Miami jury in May. Now, a federal judge has sentenced him to 10 years in prison for money laundering and undercover lobbying.

Rivera, who was a federal representative between 2011 and 2013, was tried and convicted along with political consultant Esther Nuhfer, who was part of the same plot.

Prosecutors revealed that Rivera and Nuhfer tried to manipulate influential friends such as Rubio (then a senator from Florida) or Texas Representative Pete Sessions to pressure the Trump Administration to change its line towards Maduro, which included abandoning the sanctions policy and normalizing relations.

Both testified during the process, claiming to feel betrayed when they learned that Rivera had signed a million-dollar consulting contract with a US subsidiary of the state oil company PDVSA, although Sessions presented a letter requesting clemency on October 2.

The accusation indicated that Rivera avoided accrediting his role as a lobbyist for a foreign government to avoid the consequences on his own political career in Florida of having mediated in favor of Maduro.

"The United States and the public were the true victims of this fraud," said Deputy District Attorney Roger Cruz in calling for a harsh sentence. "He used his position of trust and betrayed it consistently and repeatedly."

When issuing her ruling, Judge Melissa Damian compared the acceptance of contracts with the Maduro Government with an eventual economic agreement with Havana.

"Nobody would accept that that's okay and I don't think this is any different," Damian said. "There is no doubt that this money comes from the Maduro regime."

An encrypted chat to help the “bus driver”

During the seven weeks of trial that concluded with the guilty plea of ​​Rivera and Nuhfer, prosecutors revealed a plot that began with the initial contact of the “Lady in Red,” the code name with which the participants of an encrypted chat referred to Delcy Rodríguez, who chose the former congressman as a mediator.

The Venezuelan Government communicated with Rivera through Raúl Gorrín, a media magnate who today faces bribery charges in the United States and is reportedly detained in Venezuela, although there is no official confirmation of his imprisonment.

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In the coded messages they exchanged, Rubio was “Miss Clairol” (after the name of a hair dye brand), Maduro was the “bus driver” (in reference to his former job) and the payments were “La Luz.”

A truly bright light, because Rivera was also accused and convicted of money laundering, specifically $50 million in consulting contracts that he received indirectly from PDVSA.

The former legislator's defense argues that these payments were intended to attract the oil giant Exxon Mobile back to Venezuela (which left in the middle of a bitter expropriation process of some of its assets during the Government of Hugo Chávez), for which it did not need to be registered as a foreign agent.

"David Rivera does not deserve to die in prison for failing to file a FARA registration," his attorney Ed Shohat said during Friday's hearing. "If he had filed that paper, that form, everything he did, including the $50 million contract, which totally distorted this case, is perfectly legal."

"There is not a single word in any chat, not a single document, not a single thing that he has done to help Nicolás Maduro," Shohat added.

Rivera, who faces charges in Washington for another case of unregistered lobbying for a foreign government, plans to appeal the decision. In June, he requested a presidential pardon.

With AP, Reuters and EFE

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