Hours after the US capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, many leaders of Venezuela’s socialist movement known as Chavismo have yet to publicly accept their removal from power.
Vice President Delcy Rodríguez and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello continue to insist that Maduro remains president. They may be keeping up appearances, but there is no clear sense of what will happen next. Beyond police and some military personnel on the streets, the country is waiting for the next move by local authorities.
Following such events, uncertainty reigns in Venezuela. US President Donald Trump has said that Washington will govern Venezuela “until there can be a transition,” without clarifying how or for how long. All of this while downplaying a role for María Corina Machado, the opposition leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year.
Venezuela’s constitution establishes that Rodríguez should step in as the country’s leader. Trump did not rule out working with her, though he did not specify in what role.
If there is a plan B that does not involve the White House, there are still no signs of it.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has already spoken with Rodríguez, Trump said. Is anyone talking to the remaining pro-Maduro leaders — including Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino? Will they go to Belarus, China, Cuba, Russia, Turkey? Or will they risk a second US military operation to capture them as well?
Several analysts in other countries fear that a Chavismo pushed out of power could end up triggering a “guerrilla war” (like those of the 1960s, but with its own motivations), making governance impossible in the short term and further collapsing the economy.
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