BarcelonaIn the last few hours, there has been a surprising change of tone from the former Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, with respect to the United States. The current “president in charge” has considerably lowered the tone against Washington, coinciding with the information that indicates that the US, after saying that it wanted to “lead” the country once Maduro has been kidnapped, would see with good eyes that it is she who relieves, at least for now, the heir of Hugo Chávez in power.
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Rodríguez has gone from claiming Maduro as the country’s only president and warning that the country would not be “a colony” of the US to being willing to “work together on an agenda of cooperation” with the White House. Although from the outset Venezuela has made it clear that it is “willing to maintain relations of respect” with Washington, the condemnation of Maduro’s capture has been left in the background in Rodríguez’s interventions. Let’s review how this change of tone has been and in what context it has occurred.
Before the attack: rejection of attacks on oil tankers
Rodríguez, just as tough as Maduro against the USA
In mid-December, amid US military escalation in the Caribbean and Pacific with attacks on alleged Venezuelan narco-boats and oil tankers, then-Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was strongly opposed to US interests. He did it with the same force as Maduro. “There will be no oil given away or stolen for any foreign power. We will continue to be free and independent. With President Nicolás Maduro, we will continue to defend the homeland.”
January 3: reaction to the attack
Venezuelan government calls for “armed struggle”
Just after the bombings in Caracas, in which 80 people were killed, the Venezuelan government accuses the US of “imperialist aggression” and calls for “armed struggle”. It is not Delcy Rodríguez directly who makes these statements, nor any specific minister: the Venezuelan executive explains it in a text message to the state channel VTV.
Gen 3: Trump press shoot
He doubts Machado and says the US will “run” Venezuela
Donald Trump assures in his first press conference after the attack that the US will be in charge of “running” Venezuela, at least for the days after the assault: “We will continue like this until a safe transition can be carried out.” For this immediate future, Trump surprises the world by doubting who was considered the logical successor that the US wanted to place at the head of Venezuela: the anti-Chavista and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado.
In December, the opposition had the support of the US to leave Venezuela and travel to Oslo to collect the award. Machado has repeatedly praised President Trump, assured that he would open the oil market to companies from all over the world and had not been opposed to a White House military operation in the Latin American country. But, in the press conference, Trump points out that the opposition does not have “enough respect” within Venezuela to lead the transition. Instead, he timidly extends his hand to the Venezuelan vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, with whom he says he spoke on the phone: “It seems that he will do whatever it takes to make Venezuela great again,” says the American leader.
Gen 3: Delcy Rodríguez stands up to the USA
Says Venezuela has “only one president: Nicolás Maduro”
At a time when the American aggression is still very recent, Delcy Rodríguez appears from Caracas, when Trump has already done so, and charges hard against the USA. “There is only one president in this country, whose name is Nicolás Maduro,” asserts Rodríguez. Maduro’s number two calls the capture of Chávez’s heir an “illegitimate kidnapping”, warns the US that the Latin American country will not be “a colony” of Washington and says: “We are ready to defend Venezuela and our natural resources”. However, he also points out that the country is willing to maintain “relationships of respect” with the White House “within the framework of international legislation and the laws of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”
Gen 4: Machado, discarded
The US says it would not be the best option to “deal with the immediate reality”
As the hours pass, the name of Delcy Rodríguez as Maduro’s successor, at least in the short term, is starting to sound louder and louder. The Supreme Court of Venezuela designates her as interim president, in accordance with the Venezuelan Constitution. Some information from New York Times from officials of the Trump administration point out that, even before the attack, Washington would look favorably on her to lead the country.
January 4: Rodríguez moderates the speech
Reach out to the US to work on a ‘cooperative agenda’
If what had predominated in Rodríguez’s interventions was the denunciation of the US attack on Venezuela, on Sunday Rodríguez surprised with a moderation of speech. The interim president opened to “work together” with Washington “on a cooperation agenda, oriented towards shared development”, which serves to strengthen “a lasting community coexistence”. A tone that is far from what Chavismo tends to use publicly with the US. Nevertheless, Trump does not lower his demands, asking for “full access to oil and other things”, and warns: “If they don’t behave, we will launch a second attack”.
