After Maduro’s arrest, Trump is searching for an alternative to the Venezuelan opposition leader

In the hours that followed the US forces’ bombing of the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, and the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, the Venezuelan opposition felt joy. The leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Maria Corina Machado, a Nobel Prize holder, said: “O Venezuelans, the hour of joy has come.”

But after US President Donald Trump expressed his lack of confidence in Machado, and that he preferred Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, instead, the official opposition channels remained calm throughout the day.

Machado called for the immediate inauguration of the former presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, as president, and for the Venezuelan army to support him, as most Western governments consider Gonzalez the legitimate winner of the disputed 2024 presidential elections in Venezuela.

Machado said: “On this day, we are ready to impose our mandate and assume power. Let us be vigilant, active and organized until the democratic transition is achieved, a transition that requires the combined efforts of all of us.”

During Trump’s press conference, he was asked whether Machado would be part of a post-Maduro government, and he said he had not contacted her, adding that although Machado was a very nice woman, she “does not have the support, support or respect within her country” to lead her country.

By last Saturday, neither Machado nor Gonzalez had commented publicly on Trump’s comments, while CNN contacted the teams of Machado and Gonzalez to obtain their opinion on Trump’s statements, and is still awaiting their responses until preparing the report.

US President Donald Trump’s cold response to Machado may seem strange, as the opposition leader is a staunch supporter of him. She dedicated the Nobel Prize she won to Trump, and even hinted in at least one interview that Maduro had worked in the 2020 US presidential elections on behalf of Trump’s opponent.

But the founder and director of the Orinoco Research Center, Elias Ferrer, said that he was not surprised by Trump’s clear rejection of Machado, noting that he rarely mentioned it in his blogs on social media.

Ferrer told CNN that he believes that Trump was not impressed with the Venezuelan opposition during his first term in office, when his administration supported the politician Juan Guaido, in his 2019 attempt to assume the leadership position in the country, supported by the Venezuelan parliament.

The United States recognized Guaido as the legitimate head of state, and about 60 other countries followed suit, but his movement stopped shortly thereafter.

But during his second term, Trump was interested in fighting crime, so he bombed boats carrying drugs and secured passages for ships transporting oil, according to what Ferrer said.

For his part, Venezuelan expert, David Smilde, a professor at Tulane University, told CNN that he was surprised because he did not hear the word democracy throughout the press conference held by Trump. Smilde added: “It seems that they did not have in mind any democratic transfer of power,” and continued: “It does not seem that they are thinking about a democratic transfer, but rather in a country that is friendly and open to the interests of the United States, stable and economically prosperous.”

Instead of Machado, Trump appears to be focusing on Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, a pillar of the former regime.

The day before yesterday, Trump announced that the United States would rule Venezuela until a “wise transfer of power” was made, noting that Rodriguez was “already prepared to do what we believe is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”

Rodriguez is a member of the regime, faces US sanctions, and was not appointed directly with Trump’s approval. She merely said in a television interview last Saturday that “Maduro is still president of Venezuela.”

“We will never be a colony again,” Rodriguez said, surrounded by high-ranking government figures, including Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who was named in the same indictment against Maduro, which was unveiled by US Attorney General Pam Bondi after the US attack.

A Caracas resident, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, told CNN that she sees the removal of Maduro and keeping Rodriguez in power in Venezuela as a very strange thing.

She continued: “I do not know how much progress we will make on removing Maduro from power, but keeping her in power, while she is in a position of responsibility, and I do not think that seems logical.” About “CNN”