Rubio, meanwhile, told The New York Times that he was reserving judgment and would assess her actions. “We think they’re going to have some unique and historic opportunities to do a great service for the country, and we hope that they’ll accept that prospect,” he told the paper.
Trump cool on opposition leader
Trump dismissed the idea of installing opposition leader Maria Corina Machado to guide a transition, calling her a “nice woman” who doesn’t have the support of the Venezuelan people.Rodriguez is considered by many to be the most powerful person in the country after Maduro. Fluent in English, she is sometimes portrayed as a well-educated, market-friendly moderate in contrast to the military hardliners who took up arms with former president Hugo Chavez against Venezuela’s democratically elected president in the 1990s.
She is one of Maduro’s closest allies, rising through the ranks in roles such as information and foreign minister, and was named oil minister in 2024 after the contested presidential vote.
Donald Trump has dismissed the idea of installing opposition leader Maria Corina Machado to guide a transition, saying she doesn’t have the support of the Venezuelan people.
Some Trump advisers have viewed a transition to Rodriguez as an off-ramp from Maduro’s hard-line regime, according to people familiar with the Trump administration’s deliberations. that view holds that a gradual transition away from Maduro’s leadership would be less disruptive and destabilising than a transition to Machado or edmundo Gonzalez, the candidate she backed for the 2024 election.
The view in part is that if the democratic opposition were to gain power, it would require US military protection from domestic threats, both from the officials in the former Maduro regime and the paramilitaries and drug cartels that control large parts of Venezue/>
Jorge rodriguez is another key figure in the regime as head of the National Assembly and one of Maduro’s closest advisers.Credit: AP
Alongside rodriguez on Saturday were the heads of the legislative branch, her brother Jorge Rodriguez; the judicial branch, Caryslia Rodriguez, and Defense minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez.
Jorge Rodriguez is another key figure in the regime as head of the National Assembly and one of Maduro’s closest advisers. The 60-year-old psychiatrist became politically active in college, where he was a student leader, and after graduation, he transitioned into government roles.
A loyal ally of chavez and his successor Maduro, he’s held several high-profile political posts, serving as vice president, communications minister and head of the electoral authority. He’s also acted as negotiator for the maduro government in several rounds of talks with the US and the country’s opposition.
Despite his mediator role, Jorge Rodriguez is also known for his explosive temperament, lashing out in Congress and publicly threatening and insulting members of the opposition.
