Delcy Rodríguez sues Víctor de Aldama over claims about a PSOE financing envelope

A complaint over TV claims

Delcy Rodríguez, the acting president of Venezuela, has filed a complaint with Spanish courts against businessman Víctor de Aldama for serious insults made in public. The complaint targets statements Aldama made on 4 and 5 February 2026 in two television programmes, Diario de la Noche on Telemadrid and Horizonte, which airs on Cuatro and Mediaset Infinity. In those interviews he said Rodríguez had handed him an envelope bearing the logo of the state oil company PDVSA, containing documents about alleged irregular financing of the PSOE. Europa Press reported the filing on Monday, 9 November, citing the law firm of former judge Baltasar Garzón, which represents her. According to that firm, the offence punishes accusing someone of facts while knowing they are false or with reckless disregard for the truth, and it is aggravated when spread through the media. The firm says the penalty would be a fine of six to 14 months.

Her denial

Rodríguez's lawyers say she firmly denies Aldama's account. They state that she never knew the envelope existed or what it contained, and that she never gave it to him. The complaint also stresses that nothing on the envelope itself identifies her as the person who made the delivery. Her lawyers argue that Aldama's statements may amount to the offence of insults, and the complaint asks a court to investigate them. No court ruling on the complaint has been reported so far.

How the envelope surfaced in court

Aldama first described the envelope's contents on 29 January, when he testified before judge Santiago Pedraz in the hydrocarbons case at the Audiencia Nacional. He told the judge that the information in the envelope related to the hydrocarbons sector. After that testimony, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor asked about its contents, and Aldama urged reaching an agreement before going further on that point. In March he submitted an envelope to judge Ismael Moreno in the secret section of the Koldo case, which examines cash payments the PSOE made to reimburse advance spending. He said Rodríguez had given him that envelope, which he claimed held information on alleged irregular financing of the PSOE and the Socialist International. EL MUNDO reports that a UCO report in the hydrocarbons case included an image of a brown envelope naming former PDVSA president Manuel Quevedo as sender and Rodríguez as addressee.

Refusal to retract

In July, Rodríguez asked for a conciliation act with Aldama, seeking a retraction and warning that she would file a complaint if he did not retract. On 16 July, at a conciliation hearing in a Madrid court, Aldama's lawyer said his client would not withdraw his words. EL MUNDO notes that Aldama's four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for corruption in public contracts for face masks remains suspended. The complaint now asks a court to investigate the matter, and no decision on it has been reported.