General Discussion

"Maduro was an illegitimate president that the United States has not recognized since January 2019. But at Saturday’s press conference, U.S. officials expressed support for Delcy Rodríguez, the executive vice president of Venezuela, to be the country’s interim president."

"There is a logic problem: If Maduro was an 'illegitimate dictator,' then wouldn’t his executive vice president similarly be illegitimate?"

"Here are some basic facts that existed before U.S. actions Saturday: Delcy Rodríguez has been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department since 2018 for antidemocratic actions and violating human rights. She has also been sanctioned since 2018 by the European Union, a rarer designation reserved for particularly bad actors. She has been a part of Maduro’s various governments since 2013, when he took over for the deceased Hugo Chavez. She is a staunch Maduro loyalist."

"At his press conference, Trump indicated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had engaged with Rodríguez by phone and that she had been 'quite gracious' and was willing to do whatever is necessary to facilitate a transition of power. Notably, Rubio appeared visibly uncomfortable with Trump’s characterization of the nascent relationship."

"But a more forceful contrast came from Rodríguez, who gave her own press conference on Saturday and railed against the Trump administration. Rodríguez denounced the U.S. action as an 'illegal and illegitimate kidnapping,' rejected the idea of U.S. authority to oversee Venezuela and insisted that Maduro remains the country’s “only president.”

https://www.ms.now/opinion/trump-maduro-regime-change-venezuela-opposition-leaders