Venezuela Opposition Figures Reel as Trump Backs Delcy Rodríguez Over Machado: 'I Could Not Believe What I Was Hearing'

Venezuela's opposition initially welcomed the U.S. operation that captured Nicolás Maduro, but some claim the reaction has quickly shifted after President Donald Trump signaled he would work with Maduro's vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, rather than opposition leader María Corina Machado, as a new report by The Guardian reveals.

Opposition figures told the outlet that the mood turned within hours of Trump announcing Maduro's detention during what the administration called Operation Absolute Resolve. Trump said at Mar-a-Lago that Machado would face difficulties leading the country, arguing she lacked sufficient "respect" inside Venezuela.

He indicated instead that Rodríguez would be recognized as the interim authority and warned she would face consequences if she failed to cooperate with U.S. demands, including opening Venezuela's oil sector to American companies.

"I felt astonished. I could not believe what I was hearing," said Ricardo Hausmann, a former Venezuelan minister and opposition supporter, to The Guardian. He said Trump's approach had left the country in what he described as a "legal and political vacuum," with power still concentrated among figures linked to the previous government.

Christopher Sabatini, a Latin America specialist at Chatham House, echoed Hausmann's esntimed saying opposition leaders felt sidelined despite their electoral mandate. "If I were Machado, I'd feel abandoned," he said, adding that the White House's position appeared to disregard the results of Venezuela's disputed 2024 election.

David Smilde, a Venezuela expert at Tulane University, said the opposition had expected Maduro's removal to clear the way for Machado and her ally Edmundo González to return and implement the election outcome. "That hope collapsed almost immediately," he said. "I don't think Trump cares at all about democracy."

Machado, whose coalition says it won Venezuela's disputed 2024 election, struck a conciliatory tone in a Fox News interview on Monday, her first public appearance since Maduro was outed.

Maduro praised Trump's "courageous vision" and described Maduro's removal as "a huge step for humanity," adding that she intended to return to Venezuela "as soon as possible" when conditions allow. She avoided directly criticizing Trump's remarks but emphasized that her decisions were guided by where she could be "most useful" to Venezuela's democratic cause.