In a strategic pivot that has stunned regional analysts, the United States has endorsed Delcy Rodríguez as Venezuela’s interim president following the dramatic ouster of Nicolás Maduro. The decision represents a calculated departure from supporting opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose movement secured an electoral mandate in 2024 but was deemed potentially destabilizing by U.S. intelligence assessments.
Rodríguez, a former vice president and daughter of a Marxist guerrilla, embodies continuity from the Chavista regime rather than its dissolution. Her appointment preserves key power structures including military leadership under Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez and hardline interior minister Diosdado Cabello—both Maduro loyalists who retain control over security apparatuses.
The Trump administration’s rationale, explained by former U.S. Ambassador Charles Shapiro, prioritizes ‘stability over democracy.’ Classified intelligence reports warned that installing Machado risked triggering violent chaos, including potential guerrilla warfare from disaffected regime elements. Instead, Washington bets Rodríguez can deliver economic liberalization while maintaining order.
Critical challenges await: revitalizing Venezuela’s crippled oil industry requires tens of billions in foreign investment unlikely without legitimate governance. While Rodríguez may cooperate on narcotics control and scale back ties with Russia and China, genuine democratic transition remains distant. Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined a three-phase plan emphasizing stabilization and oil sales before reconciliation—with elections conspicuously absent from immediate priorities.
President Trump’s dismissal of Nobel laureate Machado as ‘not respected’ and embrace of Rodríguez’s ‘gracious’ leadership signals a pragmatic, if morally ambiguous, realpolitik approach. As analyst Phil Gunson notes, ‘Trump may be getting something out of this, but ordinary Venezuelans are getting screwed as usual.’