Venezuelas acting president Delcy Rodriguez says she has had enough of US orders
CNN1 day
Rodríguez Says 'Enough of' US Orders on Venezuela
Is Trump's Venezuela strategy brilliant dealmaking, a betrayal of democratic values for oil interests or an aggression doomed to fail?
Above: Vice President of Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez after being sworn in as Acting President in Caracas on Jan. 5. Image credit: Jesus Vargas/Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-Trump narrative
Trump's brilliant 3-D chess move uses Rodríguez as a puppet to dismantle the Chavista regime without boots on the ground or nation-building chaos. She must follow every order or face a second strike, turning her into America's dangling marionette who'll purge drug lords and military goons herself while desperately trying to convince her supporters that she remains loyal to Maduro.
Anti-Trump narrative
Rodríguez is an untrustworthy Chavista who runs a narco-trafficking police state. That she has been chosen over democracy champion and Nobel Peace laureate María Corina Machado exposes a dangerous oil-first strategy that actually betrays Venezuelan freedom. It's concerning that Trump is trading American values for Venezuelan crude oil with his support for the regime.
Pro-Maduro narrative
Venezuela stands tall against imperialist aggression, after the U.S. crossed the red line by kidnapping Maduro. Unlike the far-right's submissive strategy of begging for U.S. approval, Rodríguez has reasserted that any dialogue with Washington will be conducted upright, under the tricolor flag, never crawling or groveling like opposition figures competing to see who could debase themselves most.
Metaculus Prediction
Public Figures
Establishment split
CRITICAL
PRO
© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 6.18.0
© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.
All rights reserved.
Version 6.18.0