US President Donald Trump’s advisers also believe they may be able to work behind the scenes with interim president Delcy Rodriguez who, despite her public defiance, is seen as a technocrat who might be amenable to working with the US on a political transition and key oil-related issues, according to three people briefed on the US strategy. The vague plan, however, faces numerous complicating factors, including how much further Trump is prepared to go militarily, raising questions about his ability to bend the post-Maduro Venezuelan government to his will. Read:SA slams Trump intervention in Venezuela, calls for UN Security Council meeting The potential sweeteners for Maduro’s aides would be offers of amnesty or safe exile of the sort that Maduro rejected in his final days before his capture by US special forces on Saturday, according to one source.
He is now locked away in a New York detention centre awaiting a Monday court appearance on drug charges. Defence minister Vladimir Padrino and interior minister Diosdado Cabello, two powerful members of Maduro’s inner circle who both have multimillion-dollar US bounties on their heads, remain potential spoilers in any such arrangement with the US, given their authority over the country’s military and intelligence apparatus. The White House declined to provide answers to Reuters’ questions, referring instead to comments by US secretary of state Marco Rubio that were broadcast on Sunday.
Trump’s effort could also be undercut if Democrats can convince enough of the president’s fellow Republicans to restrict funding for any further Venezuela military operation, which would send a message to Venezuela that Trump’s hand could be weakened. The US president’s vow on Saturday to “run” post-Maduro Venezuela appears for now to be more an aspiration to exert outside control — or at least heavy influence — over the Opec nation without deploying US ground forces, which would have little public support at home. But US officials believe they can still gain co-operation from Venezuelan authorities by maintaining a big military buildup off the country’s coast and keeping alive the threat of further air strikes, the targeting of Maduro loyalists and, as a last resort, sending in a contingent of US troops. “This is the sword that Trump has hanging over them,” the source told Reuters.
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