Interim President of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez will visit the United States soona US official announced on Wednesday. It will be her first visit to the US after US special forces captured and dragged Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from their homeland. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
Rodríguez will be the first de facto leader of Venezuela to visit the US in more than 25 years – except for the presidents present at the UN meetings in New York. The last bilateral meeting between the heads of state of Venezuela and the USA took place in the 1990sbefore Hugo Chávez assumed the presidency in Venezuela.
The visit will take place soon, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The date has not yet been set. The invitation, according to AFP, reflects a surprising turnaround between Washington and Caracas since the detention of Maduro, who faces multiple charges in the US, including narco-terrorism.
The vice president temporarily assumed the presidency after Maduro’s arrest. Since assuming power, she has released dozens of political prisoners from prison. However, it is still subject to US sanctions and its assets are frozen.
Venezuela has not yet confirmed the report of the alleged planned visit. AFP notes that the trip may cause problems for Rodríguez within her government – because some representatives there still reject “US hemispheric imperialism”. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López continue to wield significant power and influence in Venezuela, and analysts say it is uncertain whether they support Rodríguez.
US President Donald Trump has not yet objected to the interim president remaining in power. On Tuesday, however, he said that he would very much like to somehow involve the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, María Corina Machado, in the leadership of Venezuela. She presented him with her Nobel Peace Prize medal last week. The American president repeatedly claims that he should receive this prestigious award. After the US military intervention in Venezuela in January, Trump declared that he did not plan to work with Machado because, according to him, he “does not have support or respect” in his homeland.
