The United States Is Preparing a Model for Governing Venezuela After Maduro’s Capture

In the United States, a model for governing Venezuela after the overthrow of Nicolas Maduro is being developed. Coordination of the American administration of the country, according to Bloomberg, citing an unnamed US administration official, will be assumed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who for many years has been an outspoken critic of both Maduro himself and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, citing a senior official, the development of this framework involves Trump’s national security team, including Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and the president’s adviser on domestic and national security, Stephen Miller.

On January 3, US special forces captured Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and removed them from the country. Following this, Donald Trump said that the United States would govern Venezuela until a “safe, proper, and reasonable transfer of power,” without specifying the mechanisms of such a process. He allowed for the possibility of deploying US troops and carrying out a “second wave” of strikes, adding that, in his view, this would not be necessary. Trump also pledged that American companies would invest billions of dollars in rebuilding Venezuela’s oil infrastructure.

At the same time, Trump has yet to make final decisions on the future scope of US involvement. It remains unclear how a transitional government would be formed and whether US troops would be deployed on Venezuelan territory. A day earlier, he said the United States intended to oversee Venezuela’s authorities during a transitional period until elections are held and would gain access to the country’s oil fields.

Meanwhile, Venezuela’s Supreme Court appointed Vice President Delcy Rodriguez as interim head of state. She condemned “US military aggression” and said that Nicolas Maduro remains the country’s only legitimate president. Rodriguez also stressed that Venezuela would not submit to anyone and demanded Maduro’s release.

Trump himself limited his remarks to a brief comment to The New York Post, saying that a US military presence in Venezuela would not be necessary if Rodriguez “does what we want”.

At the same time, he ruled out the participation of Venezuela’s opposition, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, in the country’s future governance.