Venezuela, US talk 'transition' post-Maduro

CARACAS: Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez solidified her new government Monday, appointing several cabinet members and meeting with Washington’s new top diplomat in Caracas to address the country’s “transition” after the ouster of Nicolas Maduro.

Laura Dogu, Washington’s charge d’affaires in Venezuela, said on X she spoke with Rodriguez about US plans for “stabilization, economic recovery, reconciliation and transition.”

It was not immediately clear what Dogu meant by a “transition.” Maduro had been in power since 2013 until US forces raided the country and captured him, but much of his government remains in place.

Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said after the meeting the diplomatic focus going forward would involve “addressing the differences and historical controversies between the United States and Venezuela.”

“We reviewed the common agenda, especially on energy, trade, and politics,” he added.

Staffing up cabinet

In addition to meeting with Dogu, Rodriguez made several key appointments to her presidential cabinet, including tapping former foreign minister Felix Plasencia to lead Venezuela’s diplomatic mission in the United States.

“Very soon we’ll have our diplomatic representative, Felix Plasencia, in Washington to accelerate diplomatic work, political work, and the work of developing our common agenda,” Gil said.

Plasencia’s appointment marks a pivotal change in diplomatic relations between Caracas and Washington, which were severed in 2019 after the United States refused to recognize Maduro’s reelection and instead supported a parallel government led by then-opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Rodriguez also appointed Daniella Cabello — the daughter of Venezuela’s powerful interior minister, Diosdado Cabello — as her cabinet’s tourism minister.

The elder Cabello was widely considered to be Venezuela’s second-most powerful figure after Maduro, and his backing for Rodriguez’s government is seen as critical.

Cabello pledged the police’s support for Rodriguez when she became country’s leader after Maduro was ousted in a deadly US military operation last month and whisked away to New York to stand trial on drug charges.

The appointments come weeks after Rodriguez, formerly the vice president, cleared ranks among the country’s top military brass, appointing 12 senior officers to regional commands.

Among those she dismissed was businessman Alex Saab, the minister of industry under Maduro and a close ally of the former president.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado meanwhile told reporters during a video call Monday that she would be willing to meet with Rodriguez “if it’s necessary” in order to establish a “transition timeline.”

“If it’s necessary to exchange ideas in a meeting to define a transition timeline, it will happen,” she said according to a transcript.

However, she added that Rodriguez’s interim government “is still the mafia. They may have another name, but they are the mafia.”