At Davos, Trump says Venezuela oil boom looms as U.S. backs Rodríguez regime
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Venezuela is poised to earn more from oil in the next six months than it has over the last two decades, underscoring a dramatic shift in Washington’s policy towards the South American nation following the U.S. military operation that captured former strongman Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.
Speaking in a closely watched address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump praised Venezuela’s new authorities for swiftly agreeing to a deal with Washington and accepting U.S. cooperation after Maduro’s removal. “The leadership is good and smart,” Trump said, referring to the interim government led by Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president and onetime oil minister.
A White House official said Wednesday that Rodríguez is expected to visit Washington in the coming weeks, though no date or agenda was provided. If confirmed, the trip would mark the most significant diplomatic engagement between the two countries in years.
Trump’s embrace of Rodríguez’s interim government highlights a pragmatic approach that prioritizes stability, oil flows and security cooperation over a rapid transfer of power to the opposition. The president has said the new government is operating under U.S. supervision and is complying with Washington’s demands, including granting access to Venezuela’s oil sector and shipping millions of barrels of crude to the United States for sale.
“I was against Venezuela, but now I love Venezuela,” Trump said at a press conference Tuesday, adding that his administration has been “working very well” with Rodríguez’s team. He also asserted that Rodríguez has freed “many political prisoners,” a claim that human rights groups say requires independent verification.
The policy has placed Trump at odds with Venezuela’s main opposition leader, María Corina Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate whom the administration initially ruled out as a transitional leader, arguing she lacked sufficient domestic support. Still, Trump signaled this week that he may be reconsidering her role.
“Maybe we can involve her in some way,” Trump said Tuesday, calling Machado an “incredible” woman who “did something extraordinary,” a reference to her decision to gift him the medal from her Nobel Peace Prize during a recent White House visit.
The mixed signals reflect a delicate balancing act as Washington seeks to stabilize Venezuela after years of economic collapse, mass migration and international isolation. U.S. officials argue that Rodríguez’s continued leadership could help prevent chaos while oil revenues begin to rebuild an economy devastated by mismanagement and sanctions.
On the same day as Trump’s meeting with Machado last week, Rodríguez met in Caracas with CIA Director John Ratcliffe to discuss security issues and potential economic cooperation. Ratcliffe’s visit was the highest-level U.S. trip to Venezuela in years and the first by a Trump Cabinet member since the Jan. 3 military operation that led to Maduro’s capture and transfer, along with his wife, to New York to face narco-terrorism charges.
While seeking to accommodate Washington, Rodríguez has been careful not to stray too far from the nationalist, anti-American rhetoric that has defined the Chavista movement for more than two decades. In recent days, she has emphasized that her leadership is being exercised in accordance with Venezuela’s national dignity.
She has said that if she visits Washington, she will do so as Venezuela’s leader, “standing up, walking, and not dragged,” a pointed remark aimed at critics who see her government as a U.S.-backed continuation of chavismo.
Machado, for her part, has argued that Rodríguez does not represent the Venezuelan people. She has described the interim government as “doing part of the dirty work” in a complex transition and said she remains confident that an “orderly transition” to democracy will follow.
In Washington on Tuesday, Machado said her immediate goal is to return to Venezuela as soon as possible. “What I want is to return to Venezuela,” she told reporters at the U.S. Capitol, where she met with Cuban-American lawmakers Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez, as well as members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“Venezuela will be free,” Machado said alongside Díaz-Balart and Giménez. “And once we free Venezuela, we will continue working, and we will have a free Cuba and a free Nicaragua.”
Machado called the period following Maduro’s removal “historic,” crediting both Venezuelan resistance and U.S. support. “We would not be here were it not for the commitment, resistance, generosity and courage of the Venezuelan people, but also because we have had the support, vision and courage of incredible leaders such as the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and members of Congress,” she said.
Democrats on Capitol Hill, however, have urged caution. Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said after meeting with Machado that congressional views on Venezuela’s transition timeline differ from Trump’s.
Meeks said committee members pressed Machado for details about her White House meeting four days earlier, but that she avoided criticizing the president. “She was very careful in how she spoke, because when you say something the president doesn’t like, there is retaliation,” Meeks said.
He added that removing remaining figures from the Chavista establishment is necessary to allow the millions of Venezuelans who fled under Maduro’s rule to return home safely.
This story was complemented by El Nuevo Herald’s wire services.
