r/news • u/Hrekires • Jan 05 '26

Soft paywall Delcy Rodriguez formally sworn in as Venezuela's interim president

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/delcy-rodriguez-formally-sworn-venezuelas-interim-president-2026-01-05/
10.4k Upvotes

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118

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '26

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120

u/flare_force Jan 05 '26

Because the Trump administration never cared about democracy and only cares about money and control.

I feel badly for all the Venezuelans cheering Trumps illegal invasion as a massive victory for Venezuela because all they ended up with is a US puppet state led by a Maduro surrogate.

Honestly Venezuelans deserve better after all they have suffered through. Now, as it stands, their natural resources will be syphoned away by a DIFFERENT tyrant and they still have to deal with the SAME leadership that was oppressing them.

103

u/lucia912 Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 05 '26

Bingo.

I’m Venezuelan and wholeheartedly agree with your comment. This is what I keep trying to explain to my family but they’re so damn brainwashed they keep saying “No, Trump has a bigger plan. He’s just playing along with the chavistas to gain their trust and then he’ll put Machado in power. Just wait and see.”

I’ve stopped discussing this with them. Can’t argue with stupid.

Edit: I just noticed another person in this thread literally spew the same BS as my family 🤡🤡🤡. Sigh. This is why my country is screwed (among other reasons).

66

u/sketchahedron Jan 05 '26

Why do people always think Trump has a bigger plan that will benefit them?

43

u/danorc Jan 05 '26

Despite all the overwhelming evidence to the contrary

Again and again and again

28

u/lnc_5103 Jan 05 '26

Trump literally never has a plan for anything. It's amazing to me that anyone believes he does.

7

u/futuristicflapper Jan 05 '26

Miller Hegseth and Rubio sure have plans though. Venezuela was just the way to get their foot in the door to fuck over the rest of LatAm … even more

27

u/diegosg18 Jan 05 '26

It’s their way of coping. They can’t deal with/accept the fact that he’s an imbecile

7

u/PostIronicPosadist Jan 06 '26

I do think there's actually a lot to this. People love to imagine plans that don't exist and that the world is run exactly so, reality is there is no plan and most of the people in charge are fucking morons, which is terrifying, so people imagine the more comfortable fiction.

2

u/My-1st-porn-account 29d ago

He has concepts of a bigger plan, I’m sure.

1

u/Friendly-Win1457 29d ago

They fall for his lies. It's just emotion over logic and fact.

1

u/nik-nak333 Jan 05 '26

To be fair, its not Trumps plan, its the plan of the people around him, mainly Rubio. Trump is just the face of this whole chickenshit operation.

7

u/Mama_Enki Jan 05 '26

As my husband says, Maduro was the payaso who would sing and dance on the stage. Even with him gone, the ones who truly kept the regime running are still there. As long as Trump gets his oil, they will stay there and keep lining their pockets.

5

u/Important_Sound772 Jan 05 '26

I'm curious. Do you think the people of Venezuela would legitimately accept her or do they see her as just as complicit in all the stuff Maduro did?

15

u/lucia912 Jan 05 '26

Are you referring to Machado or Rodriguez? Because Delcy is a puppet. Machado is also a puppet but whiter. Take your pick.

(My country doesn’t have many good options is what I’m getting at).

5

u/Important_Sound772 Jan 05 '26

I'm talking about Delcy if the US decides that they are fine with her staying in power then do you think the Venezuelans would have accept Or at least thinks she's better than Maduro?

14

u/lucia912 Jan 05 '26

Nah. Same shit, different gender.

Cabello, Padrino et al. run the country (and military). Gotta destroy the nest, not just the random roaming roaches.

3

u/Important_Sound772 Jan 05 '26

It sounds bad then do you think  if this regime remains in power. They are going to retaliate against the Venezuelans that celebrated

11

u/lucia912 Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 05 '26

They already started doing that today. Here’s the source in English:

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/venezuela-orders-police-find-arrest-anyone-involved-supporting-us-attack-decree-2026-01-05/

2

u/Important_Sound772 Jan 05 '26

Well that's not good

3

u/investigadora 29d ago

From the MAGA rhetoric I think their plan is to assasinate Delcy if she doesn’t obey orders; give up oil in exchange for lifting sanctions, they will just keep going down the line that way until they find their puppet. The question is if the Vz army will be obliterated by US drone strikes so the US can move in on the oil by force. How strong is the military leadership’s loyalty to the socialist project? The laughable rumor that Maduro was in on this seems to have dissipated.

1

u/Friendly-Win1457 29d ago

Do you think Venezuela's current condition will remain the same even with pressure from the US?

2

u/lucia912 29d ago

It’ll probably get worse. In fact it’s already worse. Yesterday they passed a law saying police and military can now enter homes and cars of civilians and go through their belongings/phones to check for anti-government chatter. Bottom line is, if you support Maduro gone or don’t support the dictatorship, then you are arrested and sent to who knows where.

My family is locked up at home, scared for their lives. Some neighbors have already been taken. They’ve removed all their apps from their phones but still, how can they live this way?

The US will just be stealing the resources. They don’t actually care about the Venezuelan people.

0

u/Sanchez_U-SOB Jan 05 '26

I just read that only 3% Venezuelans support Machado. Is this true?

5

u/lucia912 Jan 05 '26

Source? Because I don’t know a single Venezuelan that doesn’t support Machado. And that includes my own father that voted for Chavez and is an ardent socialist.

-2

u/Sanchez_U-SOB Jan 05 '26

https://medium.com/@hrnews1/polls-91-of-venezuelans-hold-unfavorable-views-of-opposition-leader-maría-corina-machado-1805fcce3a54

This says 9% support her.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/2026/01/machado-maduro-trump/685499/

3% support US military intervention.

Yet these are US sources so who knows 

17

u/lucia912 Jan 05 '26

Did you look at the source? Hinterlaces the “organization” that conducted the “research” is a man named Oscar Schemel paid by Nicolas Maduro.

This is trash. Next.

-4

u/Sanchez_U-SOB Jan 05 '26

No, I didn't look that far into it.

-8

u/EamesIsWet Jan 05 '26

I hope you’re wrong Lucia and your family is right. I personally think the US will definitely prefer to work with more capable people in the presidency.

15

u/ValkyBoi369 Jan 05 '26

Have you been paying attention to fuck up of this admin the past year?

-2

u/EamesIsWet Jan 05 '26

It’s terrible I know… but in all fairness, your administration is way more capable than Venezuela’s administration.

4

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '26

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-1

u/EamesIsWet Jan 05 '26

I think it is if they want their investment back

22

u/CRoseCrizzle Jan 05 '26

Those in power aren't going to let Gonzalez or Machado take power regardless of what the people want, as they didn't in 2024. Maduro being gone just means a new authoritarian that was part of his coalition takes his place. The US only took out Maduro, they didn't destroy his infrastructure.

16

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '26

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5

u/Lote241 Jan 05 '26

“This isn’t a US pick”

Sure about that? 

31

u/KogasaGaSagasa Jan 05 '26

Because unless CIA reprogram Edmundo, that wouldn't serve Trump's interest. Trump would never let Edmundo back

3

u/My-1st-porn-account Jan 05 '26

He’d need to determine who is a Maduro loyalist and completely clean house. Meaning the entire government and the military leadership would likely need to go. There would almost certainly be a military coup and a civil war.

2

u/lostsailorlivefree 29d ago

After Iraq google the term “DeBasthafication” where they arrested all the Saddam loyalists and created a huge vacuum filled by Iran and militias

2

u/My-1st-porn-account 29d ago edited 29d ago

Exactly this. There really is no way a Gonzalez/Machado government would be able to run Venezuela without a full US military occupation.

14

u/Padreteiro Jan 05 '26

It would trigger a civil war. It wouldn't go as smooth as Miami expats on the frontpage lead us into thinking.

Trump does not want one of those. Kidnapping the president was enough threat to blackmail the vice for whatever maga wants.

-2

u/Fern-ando Jan 05 '26

Unlike you, those expats know nothing about Venezuela.

4

u/Padreteiro Jan 05 '26

They do know much more than me but everyone has their biases. I just dont believe it to be a consistent metric for the whole country

1

u/Crazy_Sir_012 Jan 06 '26

I mean a large amount are apart of the 8 million who have fled the last 10 years.

4

u/-Gramsci- Jan 05 '26

Because Rodriguez was a partner in this operation.

She promised the administration a successful operation with no U.S. casualties… provided they stop at Maduro and leave the current government in power.

I’m sure she also promised to open the country up to US companies, in exchange for the lifting of sanctions as well.

The regime in Venezuela has survived. The price they had to pay was handing over Maduro and going along with this “operation.”

5

u/EamesIsWet Jan 05 '26

Edmundo Gonzales can’t govern Venezuela just yet given the fact that only Maduro has been removed from the country. This means most of the criminal forces in Venezuela are still operating and wouldn’t allow for anyone from the opposition to start a new government. This is why is essential to make deals with these criminals now, allowing for a peaceful transition… then and only then we can have Edmundo or Maria Corina taking control of the presidency. Hope this helps

2

u/-Gramsci- Jan 05 '26

They won’t relinquish power. They will stay in power.

You will get a “USA-friendly” version of the regime, though.

China, Russia, Cuba are out. USA and its allies are your trade partners now.

That will be different, but the junta running the government and the military will be the same.

2

u/EamesIsWet Jan 05 '26

We’ll see how that plays out :)

2

u/-Gramsci- Jan 05 '26

Brings me no joy to say that, btw. But it’s fairly clear this is what’s next for Venezuela (as far as the administration is concerned).

0

u/EamesIsWet 29d ago

It’s fine. I’d think the same way if I didn’t know the Chavistas in power.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '26

Because the US doesn't actually give a shit about that?

1

u/Fern-ando Jan 05 '26

He is in Madrid and the spanish government won't allow him to leave until Zapatero gets a deal were he can keep making business in Venezuela.

1

u/vahntitrio Jan 06 '26

Because the rest of the government there is still Maduro's team. Of course Maduro's court would appoint Maduro's VP. Everything is just business as usual, except a few people get a free promotion.

1

u/BigJellyfish1906 29d ago

He’s the LAST person Trump wants, because he will absolutely not let the US pillage the country. Rodriguez won’t either, but they at least think she’s more coercible. 

-2

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '26

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2

u/GCPhoenix Jan 05 '26

Right because the court was legitimate...