Trump Prefers Venezuelan Interim President to Opposition Leader
Sudanhorizon – Agencies
US President Donald Trump has justified his support for Delcy Rodríguez as Venezuela’s interim president, rather than opposition leader María Corina Machado, by saying he wanted to avoid a repeat of the US experience in Iraq and the resulting instability.
In response to a question about why he preferred Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodríguez, Trump said, “If you remember, there’s a place called Iraq, where they kicked everyone out—the police, the generals—and in the end, those people turned into ISIS.”
The US president indicated that he respects Machado, noting that she “gave him her Nobel Peace Prize medal” and that she holds him in high regard.
Trump’s remarks come after a meeting between CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Rodríguez in Caracas, the highest-level meeting since the US military operation about two weeks ago that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his extradition to the United States.
According to The New York Times, the visit last Thursday reinforced the Trump administration’s message that it sees the Rodríguez government as “the best path to short-term stability.”
The meeting came a day after Trump spoke by phone with Rodríguez and on the same day he met with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado, who presented him with her medal in what he described as a “personal gesture of gratitude” for his stated support for “Venezuelan freedom.”
The newspaper quoted a U.S. official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the meeting, as saying that Ratcliffe traveled to Caracas at Trump’s direct instruction “to deliver a message that the United States is looking to improve its working relationship with the interim government.”
The official added that the two sides discussed intelligence cooperation, restoring economic stability, and the need to ensure that Venezuela does not become “a safe haven for America’s enemies, particularly drug traffickers.”
Trump had previously stated that Machado lacked sufficient support within the country. In contrast, the US president described Rodriguez as a “remarkable person,” noting her “cooperation with Washington.”
Within the US administration, Ratcliffe’s visit is seen as an expression of “trust and cooperation” with Rodriguez, whom Trump officials describe as representing “practical stability” upon which to build.
In this context, the CIA provided an initial assessment last summer describing Rodriguez, when she was vice president, as a “pragmatic politician, not an ideologue, willing to negotiate and even cooperate with Washington if necessary.”
Officials circulated an intelligence report stating that Rodriguez wore a $15,000 dress during her inauguration, prompting one official to comment sarcastically: “She’s the most capitalist socialist I’ve ever seen.”
Rodriguez has also previously participated in negotiations with Trump’s special envoy, Richard Grenell, and other officials, in an attempt to reach an agreement that would lead Maduro to voluntarily relinquish power, according to the newspaper.
Despite the failure of those efforts, sources familiar with the discussions, according to The New York Times, confirmed that Rodríguez “proved to be a pragmatic figure who sought common ground,” which appears to have formed the basis for Washington’s decision to support her interim government during the current transition.
It is worth noting that U.S. special forces arrested President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas on January 3 and transferred them to New York, where they face trial on drug trafficking charges. Following the arrest, Delcy Rodríguez—who had served as vice president under Maduro—was sworn in as the country’s interim president.
Rodríguez strongly condemned the U.S. operation and continued to refer to Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela. She also offered the United States talks on potential cooperation.
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