Roxanna Vigil
It has been more than a month since Operation Absolute Resolve led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, but neither President Donald Trump nor his administration have clearly outlined next steps for the country—or the United States’ involvement there. The president has only consistently stated his intention to control Venezuela’s vast oil resources. To do so, he appears comfortable working cooperatively with the current Venezuelan government under interim President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime Chavista and Maduro’s vice president.
Trump did meet with opposition leader María Corina Machado (and accepted her Nobel Peace Prize) on January 16 and vaguely indicated he was considering getting her involved in the country’s future somehow. However, he also dismissed Machado, claiming she did not have sufficient support to lead in Venezuela despite the opposition’s victory in the most recent election. Both Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress balked at this treatment of Machado, but Trump did not address these concerns by committing to a timeline for elections or democratic transition process in Venezuela.
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