Trump’s favored leader exposed as a ‘rabid Chavista’

Every morning in London, Delcy Rodriguez (pictured) – Nicols Maduro’s vice president – would pick up her tube of toothpaste and berate it as a ‘capitalist product.’ The ritual, recalled by former US diplomat Brett Bruen, captures the hardline ideology of the woman President Donald Trump has effectively left overseeing Venezuela’s transition in the aftermath of the ouster of Maduro. Bruen, who served at the US Embassy in Caracas, calls Rodrguez a ‘rabid Chavista’ and a ‘tried and true socialist,’ and warns that the administration’s approach is turning a military victory into a political farce. ‘From a strategic standpoint, that’s astonishingly stupid, even for him,’ Bruen said of Trump’s vow that the United States will ‘run Venezuela.’ But the toothpaste anecdote is only the surface of a deeper rift.

Trump’s decision to sideline Venezuela’s democratic opposition leaders, Mara Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzlez,has opened a sharp split with influential Republicans and the Venezuelan-American community, many of whom regard Machado as the country’s legitimate leader. Some of Trump’s closest allies are now openly breaking ranks. Representative Carlos Gimenez, a staunch Trump supporter and a powerful voice in Miami’s exile community, told the Daily Mail that on Machado, the President is simply wrong. ‘The community is not divided on her. I think the community is solid behind her,’ Gimenez stated. While Gimenez praised Trump for the ‘bold action’ of the operation itself, he admitted there is a disconnect regarding the country’s future leadership. ‘The President is my president… but my assessment and his are different,’ Gimenez said.

The Florida congressman confirmed he spoke with Machado (pictured) shortly after the apprehension of Maduro. He described her demeanor during the call as ‘statesman-like,’ adding that she didn’t bring up any theories on why Trump won’t back her. Gimenez argued that Machado’s legitimacy is undeniable, noting that she backed Edmundo Gonzlez in the recent electionswho won by 70 percentonly because she was illegally barred from running. ‘If you had an election tomorrow, I bet pretty good money that Maria Corina Machado would win,’ Gimenez asserted. The congressman hopes to ‘bring Trump around,’ questioning who has been feeding the President negative information about the opposition leader. ‘I don’t know who told him this… I just don’t think it’s correct,’ he added.

Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar (pictured), another Cuban representing South Florida, echoes the same sentiment, telling the Daily Mail that Machado is the ‘moral force’ of Venezuela’s democratic movement. ‘I am hopeful that we will take the necessary steps to ensure that either, the 2024 election results are respected, or, that a new election will take place where Mara Corina is on the ballot,’ Salazar explained. But a diplomat very familiar with South America who asked to remain anonymous told the Daily Mail that Machado can be ‘difficult.’ ‘She’s completely stalwart… She believes what she believes. If you share her views, then you are a pretty smart guy, and if you differ in any respect, then she didn’t have a chance for you,’ a diplomat very familiar with South America told the Daily Mail.

Gimenez told the Daily Mail he was among the first to learn of the raid, waking to a 4.30am call back from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and an emphatic message: ‘We got him.’ But with Trump declaring he will ‘run’ the country and some of his own party pushing back on who should lead it, what some diplomats call the ‘sugar high’ of the operation is fading fast. As Bruen warns: ‘We’ve seen this movie before in Iraq and certainly in Afghanistan.’