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Russian (RU) WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress who have long pushed for the end of Venezuela’s dictatorship insisted Wednesday that democracy was just around the corner in the beleaguered country.
It’s a view seemingly at odds with President Donald Trump’s emphasis on bringing oil to Americans instead of freedom to Venezuelans.
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Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.), whose south Florida district includes many Cubans and Venezuelans eager for regime change in those countries, said Maria Corina Machado, the country’s exiled opposition leader and winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, hasn’t been pushed aside.
“I don’t think they’re sidelining the opposition. I think they’re getting the stage ready for a free and democratic Venezuela,” Giménez told HuffPost. “This thing happened on Saturday. You just can’t say, ‘OK, that’s it. We’re going to flip the switch. Everything is going to happen.’”
The weekend raid that captured Maduro and his wife set off mass celebrations in Venezuelan communities throughout the United States and the world. But Trump pointedly did not aim to topple Maduro’s government, and his administration has shown almost no interest in helping Machado gain power or holding elections even as Maduro’s allies unleashed a new wave of repression in the country.
Florida Republicans and Machado herself are now seemingly engaged in a last-ditch effort to change Trump’s mind about the 2025 Nobel laureate, with Machado pitching herself on Trump favorite Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), a close Trump ally, posted a video Tuesday saying Machado is “so appreciative” of Trump’s actions that will give “children and families of Venezuela the opportunity for freedom.”
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There’s little sign their efforts are working: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterated on Wednesday the administration sees a government led by Delcy Rodríguez, formerly Maduro’s vice president, as best suited for maintaining stability in Venezuela and facilitating the transfer of its massive oil reserves to the U.S. (A classified CIA assessment reportedly backs up their stance.)
“We obviously have maximum leverage over the interim authorities,” Leavitt said in a press conference on Wednesday. “Their decisions are going to continue to be dictated by the United States of America.”
Trump said Machado “doesn’t have the respect” of people in her country sufficient to be its president. He is reportedly upset that she was awarded his coveted Nobel Prize last year. “If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” a person close to the White House told The Washington Post this week.
South Florida Republicans, by contrast, are adamant Machado will be the country’s next leader. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, in a press conference on Saturday, clashed with a reporter who suggested more could be done to support her.
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“When have we ever not supported her?” he said, interrupting the reporter’s questions and pointing to Giménez and Rep. María Elvira Salazar, another Republican with a large Venezuelan population in her district. He added later: “I’m convinced that when there are elections — whether there are new elections or there’s a decision to take the old elections, the last elections — that the next democratically elected president of Venezuela is going to be María Corina Machado.”
Asked by HuffPost on Wednesday whether and when Machado will get a chance to govern Venezuela, Scott demurred, saying, “It’s just as simple as there’s going to be a transition.”
Giménez said there’s actually no opposition to Machado among Republicans in Congress and the administration, with the exception of the president. “We have a different assessment of her capabilities, that’s all. And it’s just now a matter of convincing the president of her capabilities,” he said.
In an appearance on Fox News, Machado herself praised Trump – and even offered to give him her Nobel, which she had previously dedicated to him. “Because this is the prize of the Venezuelan people, certainly we want to give it to him and share it with him,” she said.
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Trump has signaled no urgency for Venezuela to hold a new presidential election, but has rushed to convince oil companies to set up shop in the country, suggesting the United States would reimburse their costs and setting a Friday meeting with executives.
House lawmakers came out of a classified briefing with administration officials Wednesday with bipartisan praise for how the military nabbed Maduro, but with Democrats saying the administration has no plan at all for what’s next.
“They have no idea,” Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) told reporters. “I served in Iraq. I remember when the invasion was very successful. I was proud. I remember when George W. Bush said, ‘Mission accomplished.’ That’s not the end of the story. And I don’t think that’s going to be the end of this story, either.”
Other Republicans less committed to the cause of Venezuelan freedom suggested the U.S. would have greater control over the newly sworn-in interim Rodríguez, rather than opposition leaders like Machado or Edmundo Gonzalez, her stand-in in last year’s election after she was removed from the ballot.
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“[Rodriguez] is part of the existing regime that has control over the institutions of government and maintaining that, I think, is good for us and for the transition, assuming that she’s compliant,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.). “She doesn’t seem to be a madman.”
“The rationale, I think, is solid, as long as the leash is short and we have a tight grip on it,” he added. “I’d hate to have to see us do another [military] action like we just did. Nobody wants that, but I do think this is the lower-risk way to move forward.”
Democrats, meanwhile, slammed Trump’s plan to refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of crude oil from Venezuela and use the proceeds “to benefit the people” of both countries.
“This is an insane plan,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told reporters after an all-senators briefing on the administration’s policy toward Venezuela on Capitol Hill. “They are proposing to steal Venezuela’s oil at gunpoint forever and use that leverage to run the country.”
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