Since the US illegally abducted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in January, a more pliant government under Delcy Rodríguez has cooperated very closely with the Donald Trump regime. And she’s been taking big steps, possibly to try and convince Trump to leave her in power.
Delcy Rodríguez’s efforts to win over the Trump regime
US interest in Venezuela is primarily about ensuring it – and not its economic competitors – control the South American nation’s massive oil resources.
However, Washington has long used words like freedom, democracy, and human rights – things we know it has no real interest in – to rail against Venezuela’s left-leaning government. In particular, it has criticised the imprisonment of pro-US opposition figures seeking to overthrow the government (like in the 2019 coup).
Under Rodríguez, Venezuela’s Amnesty Law – an effort to “seek peace” with the US and its local allies – has facilitated the release of thousands of prisoners. And on 19 May, the government announced the release of hundreds more prisoners.
These amnesty efforts are something Trump’s team could use to claim a victory in Venezuela, especially as its flimsy legal case against Maduro stalls. But it’s not the only victory.
In addition to Maduro’s illegal abduction allowing the US to take and exert control over Venezuelan resources, it seems Rodríguez has also taken steps to please the Trump regime by:
Venezuela’s Workers: Bonuses, Frozen Wages, and a Labor Law Under Threat
Venezuela’s minimum wage remains frozen while worker income is increasingly tied to discretionary bonuses. At the same time, proposed changes to the country’s landmark labor law are raising alarm among… pic.twitter.com/iyg3iDnFRU
— Venezuelanalysis (@venanalysis) May 19, 2026
- Carrying out a political purge of Maduro loyalists behind closed doors, handing one ally in particular (Alex Saab) over to the US.
Venezuela says it has deported close Maduro ally Alex Saab to face judicial proceedings in the U.S.
A significant new level of collaboration between the Trump administration and the government of interim President Delcy Rodriguez pic.twitter.com/S5h08R3skD
— Vera Bergengruen (@VeraMBergen) May 16, 2026
Watch our video for more on the US’ farcical “narcoterrorism” case against Madurohttps://t.co/SNTzrJAYyZ
— Venezuelanalysis (@venanalysis) May 20, 2026
And now, 2+ months later, Delcy deported Alex Saab to the US…misión cumplida. https://t.co/at75gLGcqD https://t.co/yEITscCbtj
— Eva Golinger (@evagolinger) May 17, 2026
- Meeting with the World Bank and investors, including people close to Trump.
Venezuela’s Rodríguez Hosts World Bank Delegation as Trump Allies Eye Investment Opportunities
Pro-Trump tech billionaires Peter Thiel and Fred Ehrsam have made multiple trips to Caracas and met with government officials in recent weeks.https://t.co/ZSf38ECX7v
— Venezuelanalysis (@venanalysis) May 19, 2026
FT Exclusive: A financial group with ties to Donald Trump’s family has set up a special-purpose vehicle that plans to raise $200mn to buy a business in Venezuela. https://t.co/q03GrUwIFv pic.twitter.com/OjNIVh8Fow
— Financial Times (@FT) May 15, 2026
Making Venezuela a US colony again
The US dominated Latin America through terror during the 20th century, and Venezuela, where US influence was strong, long stood as a key anti-communist ally in the region. The country’s capital, Caracas, was even the site of a declaration committing Latin America to opposing communism.
For decades, capitalist political parties in Venezuela agreed to essentially share power (via the Punto Fijo Pact) to exclude the left. When Hugo Chávez came along with a message challenging the economic status quo, the US and its local elites panicked. Soon, Venezuela sent most of its oil to China and became a key regional partner.
The US is an expansionist project. It bought large swathes of Mexican land in the mid-1800s. It wanted to have Cuba and control other Caribbean islands to its south too. For example, it got Puerto Rico, helped to screw over Haiti, and backed brutal dictators in the Dominican Republic.
Whether by terror or other means, the US created an informal empire in Latin America. But that began to change when Venezuela and other countries began to elect left-leaning governments after the Cold War. And now, Trump and the warmongers around him want to get that empire back.
The US made Venezuela scream for many years with vicious sanctions. But its government didn’t fall. So Trump took out Maduro with illegal military action. In other parts of Latin America, the US is working hard with Israeli war criminals and far-right drug traffickers to undermine the left.
Overthrowing Cuba’s government, meanwhile, was always going to be a major challenge. But by taking out the island’s vital supply of oil from Venezuela and elsewhere, the US is strangling Cuba now more tightly than ever before.
Trump’s regime wants the US to dominate in Latin America again. And he’s making that completely clear:
"For many Latin Americans, the ‘51st state’ image activated a painful historical memory: occupations, coups, sanctions, protectorates, debt dependency, military interventions, and repeated attempts to subordinate regional sovereignty to external power."https://t.co/OLPbAtkxFM
— Venezuelanalysis (@venanalysis) May 19, 2026
The question is, will Delcy Rodríguez’s efforts to win Trump over be enough?
Featured image via Jesus Vargas / Getty Images
By Ed Sykes
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