Link to article: https://latinamericanpost.com/americas/venezuelan-power-without-maduro-leaves-delcy-rodriguez-holding-lightning-rod/
Following the capture of Nicholas Maduro, the president of Venezuela, his role has been filled by his vice president Delcy Rodríguez. Rodríguez is claiming to be in a temporary position until the eventual return of Maduro. Condemning the US’s actions in her country, she appears to be following in Maduro’s footsteps. Rodríguez has been climbing the Venezuelan political ladder since Chavez’s presidency. These statements and her position are to project stability in the country. Although Rodríguez is the acting leader, she still has to participate in talks with the US and know when to accept demands vs not. She has to walk a very narrow margin between keeping the states sovereignty and negotiations with the US. The main question of this article is whether she will remain the acting president, or if someone else will take her place.
This article is important because it highlights one of the complications that came from Maduros extraction, who has control now. This story explains that even though Maduro was removed, his regime is still there. Rodríguez might as well still be Maduro as her policy and public choices reflect the same as Maduro. So has anything really changed? Other than challenging the validity of the current governing power, all it did was create larger problems for both countries to solve. Just removing the leader of a country doesn’t solve any of the problems initially stated. It doesn’t solve drug trafficking, dictatorship, or instability. Maduro was just the face of the dictatorship, not the structure. If the US actually wanted to stop these issues, we would take control of the country until the problems are solved. The US should either commit to a full scale takeover or return Maduro. Venezuela should continue to push for the return of their leader in the international community, and attempt to maintain stability.
These issues connect to the US’s predatory motivation behind problems in Venezuela. The US and Venezuela have a conflict of interests for: resources, trade, and control of government. The US hopes to take control of all of these aspects and reap the rewards, without Venezuela necessarily doing anything to insight intervention.