The US reinforces its support for Chavista leader Delcy Rodríguez with the sending of the head of the CIA to Caracas

The visit occurred at the same time that North American President Donald Trump received opposition leader María Corina Machado at the White House, about whom the president has said that he does not have enough support to try to direct the transition and come to power in Venezuela.

According to analysts, the meeting between the leader of the North American intelligence apparatus and the Venezuelan official, which lasted two hours and was kept secret, reinforced the Trump administration’s message that considers the interim government as the best way for the country’s stability. A message also for Corina Machado. In particular, also due to the White House’s interest in promoting economic ties, with the oil wealth of the Chavista region in a central place.

In that sense, it should be noted that Ratcliffe is the highest-ranking US official and the first cabinet member to visit Venezuela since the US military captured Maduro and his wife in an operation on January 3. The Chavista leader was transferred to New York where he is being prosecuted for “narcoterrorism.”

Since then Delcy Rodríguez has denounced that her boss was kidnapped and has repudiated the North American military action. In that sense, in a speech this Wednesday, He affirmed in the Venezuelan Parliament that his country has the right to maintain relations with China, Russia, Iran, Cuba and also with the United States.”

The meeting with the CIA chief came a day after Trump spoke by phone with Rodríguez, praising her as “terrific,” and that same day he met with Machado, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

The opposition leader this Friday crossed Delcy Rodríguez, stating that she does not represent Venezuela and held her responsible for crimes against humanity along with Maduro and the powerful Minister of the Interior Diosdado Cabello.

Ratcliffe’s high-profile visit and message of cooperation could be interpreted as a snub to the opposition, whose supporters have been frustrated that the Trump administration has not attempted to bring Trump to power. Edmundo González Urrutiaan ally of Machado, since Maduro was captured.

This leader and former diplomat won the July 2024 elections by a wide margin, according to international electoral experts, after Machado was prohibited from running. But Maduro refused to give up power and orchestrated a fraud that was endorsed by the Supreme Court, which is an agency aligned with the regime.

A US official said Ratcliffe met with the acting president at Trump’s direction “to convey the message that the United States expects a better working relationship.”

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive meeting, added that the two talked about intelligence cooperation, economic stability and the need to ensure that the country was no longer a “safe haven for US adversaries, especially drug traffickers.”

For White House officials, the visit is intended to be an endorsement of the stability of the regime and a sign of fostering trust and collaboration between both governments.

Already last summer, senior US officials were discussing how to maintain stability in Venezuela. At the time, the government was beginning to prepare an anti-drug campaign that would involve attacking vessels at sea that it claimed were transporting drugs, eventually leading to Maduro’s capture.

As officials planned the campaign of boat attacks, the goal was to overthrow Maduro, either through negotiations or by force.

However, there was intense debate about how to prevent chaos from spreading throughout the country after the departure of the Chavista leader. Additionally, in what ways was alignment guaranteed with the main energy objective that drove the entire operation.

Senior officials raised the possibility that dismantling the Venezuelan government after Maduro’s ouster, even to make way for an opposition leader, would be similar to the mistakes Washington made in Iraq when it dismantled the Iraqi army and created an insurgency, officials said.

The truth is that The dictatorial structure remained intact, with para-police and para-military groups terrorizing the streets, political prisoners still in the regime’s prisons and censorship and limits on opposition propaganda continue. Trump has said that the transition could last for years and went so far as to announce on social media that he was already the acting president of Venezuela.

Amid talks last summer, the CIA issued a preliminary assessment that Rodríguez, then Venezuela’s vice president, was a pragmatic politician, rather than an ideologue, willing to negotiate with the United States.

Details: An intelligence report distributed to senior political officials mentioned that she wore a $15,000 dress to her inauguration, prompting one official to joke that “she’s a socialist, but the most capitalist I’ve ever seen.”

Rodríguez had participated in negotiations with Richard GrenellTrump’s special envoy, as well as with other officials, while the government sought an agreement for Maduro to voluntarily renounce power. No agreement was reached, but it was decided that Rodríguez was the right person. He was also the one who opened Venezuela’s economy since 2019, privatized a good part of the nationalized Hugo Chávez and was in charge of the disorderly dollarization of his country.

Fuente: The New York Times y AP