LOS ANGELES (OC).–Sworn in today as interim president by the Venezuelan parliament, 56-year-old VP Delcy Rodriguez walked a fine line pandering to Maduro loyalists but knowing that if she stepped too far out of line she would be replaced like Maduro. Maduro, 63, was arrested with his wife Cilia Flores in the early morning of Jan. 3 in a stunning operation, unprecedented by modern standards, arresting an existing head-of-state on narco-trafficking charges. While Maduro denies the charges in New York District Court, declaring his innocence, saying he was kidnapped by the U.S. government. Maduro was living with his wife in a fortified military compound, somehow that gaves the keys to the CIA and FBI. Maduro pretends that his own military sold him out because the vast majority of Venezuelan citizens were disgusted with Maduro’s rule started March 6, 2013 after the death of Hugo Chavez.
Since taking office Maduro has driven some 13 million Venezuelans into exile, seeking asylum largely in the United States. Despite the world’s larges oil reserve at 300 billion barrels, Maduro didn’t spread the wealth around, spreading unemployment and widespread poverty through his country. Trump officials accuse Maduro of running a naro-trafficking operation, making him billions while his country watched its oil production drop from about 3.5 billion barrels a day to under 1 million. When Chavez seized the U.S. oild industry in 2007, the country was producing near peak capacity of 3.5 billion barrels a day, only to watch over the year its production drop to today’s lows. Trump wants to revitalize the Venezuelan oil industry but not the current national system that offers no foreign oil producers. Venezuela’s newly minted president Delcy Rodriguez walks a fine line.
At her swearing in ceremony today, Delcy shared her pain over recent events, promising to work for the Venezuelan people. President Donald Trump put Delcy on notice that he expected her to open the Venezuelan oil indu toward sharstry to U.S. companies, promising to return the country to prosperity not seen since before 2007 when Chavez ousted U.S. oil companies, confiscated their assets and nationalized the oil industry. Trump warned Delcy that she would “apy a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro if she “doesn’t do what’s right,” Trump said. Rodriguez must know that Maduro’s removal from power was carefully coordinated with the Venezuelan military, something Democrats and the fake news deny. “Were invite the U.S. government to collaborate towards shared development within the framework of international law.
Delcy told the parliament that she accepted the office “with pain” because of the suffering from the “illegitimate military aggression,” not accepting Trump’s explanation that Maduro was a narco-trafficker that had been involved in illegal profits from narcotic sales. Delcy said she wanted peace in her country “the spiritual tranquility of our people,” knowing was one step removed from defying Trump. Delcy was put on notice that whatever happened to Maduro could easily happen to her as well if he takes Venezuela in the wrong direction. Trump wants a government friendly to the U.S., opening up Venezuelan oil markets to U.S. companies. Rodriguez knows that without the help of the Venezuelan military Maduro could not have been arrested by the CIA and FBI. Delcy walks a fine line defying Trump while saying she would work with the White House.
Trump’s unprecedented military build up in the Caribbean made it difficult for Russia or China to help send Maduro a lifeline. Trump created as new version of the Monroe Doctrine serving notice to other nations to stay out of the Western hemisphere. Trump wants other rogue nations to know that if the U.S. could do to Maduro in Venezuela, they could do it to other hostile powers in Latin America. Maduro had a contingent of Cuban body guards, at least 40 lost their lives in the U.S. mission. Secretary of State Marco Rubio served notice to the dictators in Cuba that they could be next on the list. Trump warned Colombian President Gustavo Petro that he should refrain from interfering in the U.S. operation in Venezuela. Petrol runs the largest cocaine operation on the planet, something Trump doesn’t take lightly. Petro railed against Trump’s aggression in Venezuela.
Trump’s intervention in Venezuela shocked the world with the competence of the CIA and FBI managing to infiltrate the Venezuelan military to arrest Maduro and his wife. Whether admitted to or not, Trump managed to get the Venezuelan military to buy in that Maduro was destroying the country for his own personal gain. Whether he was a mercenary narco-terrorist or not, he did little for Venezuela other than degrade the oil industry and trash the economy, leaving the country in dire straits. Trump convinced the Venezuelan military that if it had a future it was without Maduro as head-of-state. Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez pledge her support to the Trump administration, trying to move productively into the future. If Trump can promote a democratic revolution in Venezuela, he will have given its 30 million a future of prosperity and peace.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
