Gwynne Dyer. Contributed Photo by HandOut /HandOutArticle contentExperienced imperialists understand that you can’t just take a country over and expect it to run itself. It takes time and work to turn it into an obedient and profitable colony, and two months is not enough. Donald Trump moved on to his next target too soon, and given how Iran’s been working out for him, he probably hasn’t thought of Venezuela in months.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who acts as Trump’s viceroy for Venezuela, hasn’t been there since the US kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in January. (In fact, he may never have been there at all – I can find no evidence for it.) But he does think about Venezuela. In fact, he controls the country very tightly from his Washington office.Article contentArticle contentArticle contentHe and Trump’s choice for interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, talk online every day, we are told. (She was the vice-president under Maduro, so she was the obvious choice if Trump wanted a local collaborator with supporters in the army and the secret police). Rubio collects the government’s income, and he tells her what she can spend her share on.Article contentIt’s an awkward arrangement, because the cabinet is still the core Chavista leaders, minus only Maduro himself. Trump thinks Rodríguez is a “terrific person”and doesn’t worry about elections: Venezuelans “wouldn’t even know how to have an election right now.” But Rubio understands that they really do expect an election to be part of the ‘transition.’Article contentRubio’s real job, therefore, is to find somebody who will do whatever the US government wants without totally alienating ordinary Venezuelans. He is slow walking the return to free elections while he works on that puzzle: “I think it’s going to require some persistence and a little bit of patience, not years, but certainly months and weeks.”Article contentArticle contentHe already has an obedient acting president in Delcy Rodríguez, and for a while after the take-over it looked as if she could be acceptable. She wasn’t hated by half the population like Maduro had been; she made a few positive gestures like releasing more than half the long-stay political prisoners – and she willingly signed any oil contract that the US put before her.Article contentBut the failure of her government to respond quickly and adequately to the devastating earthquakes of 24 June completely discredited her in the eyes of most Venezuelans. As one opinion pollster put it: “The mismanagement of the disaster destroyed her numbers. Ninety per cent of the population reject her. In electoral terms, there’s no coming back from that.”Article contentThe obvious alternative is María Corina Machado, a conservative politician who would have become president in the 2024 election if Maduro’s tame Supreme Court had not barred her from running and rigged the election against the man nominated to run in her place.
OPINION: Does Trump have unfinished business in Venezuela?
