CIA Analysis Reportedly Concluded That Regime Insiders Would Be Best Suited To Lead a Temporary Government If Maduro Was Removed

A recent CIA analysis concluded that regime insiders would be best suited to lead a temporary government if authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro was toppled, influencing the decision to back Vice President Delcy Rodriguez rather than opposition Maria Corina Machado, according to a new report.

The Wall Street Journal noted that Rodriguez and two other top regime figures, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez would also be key in such a scenario. The two officials, who also face charges in the U.S., could disrupt any efforts to conduct a transition and would therefore be unlikely to cooperate with Washington, the outlet added.

The same analysis claimed that opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez, considered the winner of the 2024 election in the country by the U.S., would struggle to overcome resistance from security forces, drug-trafficking networks and political opponents.

Another report from The Washington Post cited a person close to the White House who said Machado's acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize award was the "ultimate sin" for Trump, who soured on her after.

"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," the person added.

Machado has said the country's people "want to share" the prize with Trump. Concretely, Fox News' Sean Hannity asked her in an interview whether she had "at any point offered to give (Trump) the Nobel Peace Prize."

"It hasn't happened yet. I certainly love to be able to personally tell him that the Venezuelan people want to give it to him. We want to Share it with him. What he has done is historic, a huge step towards a democratic transition," Machado said.