Trump backs Delcy Rodríguez, dashing hopes for María Corina Machado

Members of Venezuela’s opposition celebrated on Saturday morning after their president, Nicolás Maduro, was dragged into US custody following an audacious raid on his compound during Operation Absolute Resolve. Hours later, at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump announced he would not back conservative activist María Corina Machado and signalled he would recognise Maduro’s vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez.

Ricardo Hausmann, a former minister and opposition supporter, described the “military strategy” as “brilliant”, and the assault reportedly killed dozens of Maduro’s guards but not a single US soldier. Trump said Machado lacked sufficient “respect” within Venezuela and warned Rodríguez would pay “a very high price” if she did not “do what’s right” by opening Venezuela’s oil reserves to American companies.

Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president on Monday, and one US official told the New York Times Rodríguez was “certainly someone we think we can work at a much more professional level”. Machado, who did not return to Venezuela after travelling to Oslo to receive the Nobel prize, hailed Trump’s “courageous vision” and in a Fox News interview offered to share her prize.

But analysts and opposition figures expressed astonishment and frustration: Hausmann said he “could not believe what I was hearing”, Christopher Sabatini said leaders would feel “abandoned”, and David Smilde called earlier hopes “magical realism”.

Key Topics

World, Delcy Rodriguez, Maria Corina Machado, Nicolas Maduro, Operation Absolute Resolve, Venezuela