The unknowns about Venezuela are still formidable. They far surpass the certainties, after a few hours that force the history books to be modified: when he invaded the president’s residence and took him under arrest to his territory. And yet, there are pieces that are rearranged, messages that are launched, testing the ground but with determination, and demands that are placed on the table to outline what is to come. There is strength and authoritarianism, but there is also a first hint of concession. The cracks, those through which US power has almost always slipped in the end.
The best example of this is the statement published this morning on Telegram by , Maduro’s number two in the Chavista Government until now, who has gone from asking for the release of her partner to reaching out to Washington, strengthening the idea that she is the one chosen by the North American president, , to pilot the transition in the country.
The executive vice president of Venezuela headed her first council of ministers this morning, as acting president (it is a coincidence that she uses the same label as when she tried to turn the country around), and her first decision was to create a commission to manage Maduro’s release and, at the same time, propose a “cooperation agenda” to the former president’s captors. “To act together with another or others to achieve a common goal”, that is what the RAE says what it means to cooperate.
Rodríguez has had a night of formalities and offers: after being summoned by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) to serve as president (no one knows for how long), she was sworn in in a ceremony that has not been public and, then, launched this “invitation to the US Government to work together on a cooperation agenda, oriented towards shared development, within the framework of international legality and (that) strengthens lasting community coexistence.”
“President Donald Trump: our people and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war. That has been the predicament of President Nicolás Maduro and it is that of all of Venezuela at this moment,” he added, using much more conciliatory words than in the first hours of the assault on Maduro’s residence, although even then they were mild compared to the blow received by the ruling party.
“President Donald Trump: our people and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war. That has been the predicament of President Nicolás Maduro and it is that of all of Venezuela at this moment”
Free Maduro
The Minister of Communication and Information of Venezuela, Freddy Ñáñez, in a statement broadcast by the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) at the end of the ministerial meeting, was in charge of announcing the creation of the high-level commission to manage the release of Maduro.
The event will be chaired by the head of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, who is also the head of the Venezuelan Government delegation for dialogue with the United States, and will be made up of the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, the president of the government program for the repatriation of migrants Gran Misión Vuelta a la Patria, Camila Fabri, and the Minister of Communication himself, EFE reports.
According to Ñáñez, Rodríguez also visited the wounded from the attack suffered the day before, whom he described as “young men and women, brave and heroic soldiers who put up their chests to defend” “sovereignty”, “integrity” and Maduro. “We want, finally, to certify that at this time our country throughout the length and breadth is in absolute peace, it is in absolute protection of the Government institutions that have been deployed to guarantee security,” added the minister.
Also participating in the Council of Ministers were, among others, the Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino López, and the Minister of the Interior and Justice, Diosdado Cabello, according to VTV images. They are essential names of Chavismo who, for now, endorse the steps taken by Maduro’s second, they have not resigned or escaped or anything like that. “The ranks seem firm,” as quoted by the .
The victims
This morning, something more was also revealed about last Saturday’s assault, not only on the place where Maduro was sleeping, but also on other areas of Caracas and the neighboring states of Aragua, Miranda and La Guaira, in the north of the country. Until now, there had only been speculation about the number of victims left by the North American operation, but now the Government of Venezuela has directly paid tribute to 32 “Cuban combatants” who, it claims, died during the attack.
In a statement also released on Telegram by the current Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, it was stated that these Cubans “said their lives in the fulfillment of their duty” and indicated that these personnel carried out “institutional protection and defense tasks” as part of the “cooperation between sovereign States.” In this context, Venezuela expressed its “deepest solidarity” to Cuba and thanked the president of the island, and the Army general and leader of the Cuban revolution Raúl Castro “for their support and firmness of solidarity.” Likewise, he described the American attack as “criminal and infamous.” Previously, Miguel Díaz-Canel explained on social networks that his country’s military “carried out missions” in Caracas at the “request of counterpart bodies in that country”, without further details.
Many analysts had pointed out that Maduro’s first personal security circle was made up mainly of Cubans, something that Caracas and Havana had never confirmed. Now it has been exposed. The Cuban Ministry of the Interior indicated on social networks that among the deceased are personnel from the Revolutionary Armed Forces and its department, where many soldiers also work, as well as people from the Intelligence services.
“Honor and glory to the brave Cuban combatants who fell facing terrorists in imperial uniform, who kidnapped and illegally removed from their country the president of Venezuela and his wife, whose lives helped protect ours at the request of that sister nation,” wrote Díaz-Canel, who expressed his “pain and indignation” over these deaths” and announced two days of official mourning, starting at 6 a.m. this Monday.
Venezuelan sources cited by han indicated that that morning, in reality, 80 people were murdered, while Washington officials revealed that half a dozen American soldiers were injured, although Trump has not wanted to confirm these numbers.
wants it all
Rodríguez’s statement not only contrasts with the shock suffered by his country and his own colleague, Maduro, this weekend, but, more immediately, with the statements that Trump himself made tonight, who although he has said that he counts on her for the future of the country, has set draconian conditions. Basically, he wants everything, and other natural resources and also infrastructure. Take it or leave it. In an interview this Sunday with the weekly Trump said that if Rodríguez “does not do the right thing” a “worse” future awaits him than Maduro’s.
He has demanded “total access” to Venezuela in terms of natural and other resources, and to this end, he is even considering reopening the US embassy in Caracas. “What we need (from Delcy Rodríguez) is total access. Total access to oil and other things in the country that will allow us to rebuild it.” When asked what other “things” they would need, Trump mentioned the country’s infrastructure, since “roads are not being built and bridges are falling down.”
Trump has made clear that he could order another attack if Venezuela does not cooperate with US “efforts” to liberalize its oil industry and curb drug trafficking. He also threatened military action in Colombia and Mexico and stated that the Cuban communist regime “appears to be about to fall” on its own. They are the new targets, with Maduro in a cell in New York.
Trump’s statements came on the eve of the former Venezuelan president’s scheduled appearance this Monday before a federal judge in the Big Apple. It is expected to be at noon, local time (six hours more in Madrid). The hearing will take place before Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who has overseen the case against Chavista for more than a decade. 92 years old and appointed by Clinton, he is a jurist with extensive experience who has handled several high-profile files.
Trump administration officials have described the seizure as a law enforcement measure to hold Maduro accountable for criminal charges filed in 2020 accusing him of . But Trump himself has pointed out that there were other factors at play, claiming that the raid was due in part to the influx of Venezuelan immigrants to the US and the country’s decision to nationalize US oil interests decades ago. “We are recovering what was stolen,” he declared aboard Air Force One upon returning to Washington from Florida on Sunday. Oil companies will return to Venezuela and rebuild the country’s oil industry, Trump said. “They are going to spend billions of dollars and they are going to extract the oil from the ground,” he promises.
“We are in charge”
One of the most striking phrases of the Republican’s intervention before the press has already been: “We are in charge.” On Saturday, when announcing the details of Maduro’s capture, he reiterated several times that the country will be governed by his trusted team to guarantee a transition process. But his Secretary of State, , appears to distance himself from that plan, emphasizing instead that the Administration would maintain a military “quarantine” on the country’s oil exports to exert influence over the new leadership.
When asked how the US planned to govern Venezuela, Rubio did not present a plan for a US occupation authority, like the one the George W. Bush administration established in Baghdad, but instead spoke of coercing a Venezuelan government led by Maduro allies to implement changes in its policies.
US forces will continue to prevent tankers on the US sanctions list from entering and leaving the country until the administration opens the state oil industry to foreign investment – presumably giving priority to US companies – and makes other changes, it stated in the program. “That is still valid, and it is an enormous influence that will continue until we see changes, not only to promote the national interest of the United States, which is a priority, but also for a better future for the Venezuelan people,” said the head of North American diplomacy.
And in a later tense exchange on , Rubio complained that people were obsessed with Trump’s declaration that the US government would govern Venezuela. He added that “it is not about governing, but about governing politics in this regard.”
Rubio declared on CBS, in addition, that the US naval force that Trump concentrated in the Caribbean, near Venezuela, during the last months – “one of the largest naval deployments in modern history, certainly in the Western Hemisphere” – will remain in place to enforce the quasi-blockade, with the goal of “paralyzing that part of the way in which the regime, as you know, generates income.”
Trump could deploy US troops in Venezuela, beyond the recent operation in which soldiers from the Army’s Delta Force captured Maduro, if this favored US interests, he explains. The president “does not feel that he is going to publicly rule out the options available to the United States,” Rubio said. They do seem to agree on that.
