How much sway does the US hold in Venezuela?published at 18:13 GMT
18:13 GMT
Vanessa Buschschlüter
Latin America editor
Image source, MIGUEL GUTIERREZ/EPA/ShutterstockImage caption,
Since the ouster of Maduro, the US embassy in Caracas has reopened
Interim President Delcy Rodríguez has been adamant that the decisions she has taken since replacing Maduro, have been her own.
But many of them are in stark contrast to what the Maduro government – of which she formed part – said before his ouster.
Take the decision to open up Venezuela’s gas and oil sector up to foreign investment, for example.
Just a couple of weeks before Maduro was seized by US special forces, Venezuela’s fiery interior minister – who remains in his post to this day – told oil workers that “not one drop of oil” would be taken by the US.
In his state of the union address last month, Trump said that the US had “received more than 80 million barrels of oil from Venezuela”.
US officials have heaped praise on Rodríguez for co-operating with the Trump administration and the interim leader has been all smiles as she received the US energy secretary and other officials.
Members of Venezuela’s opposition, however, point out that there has been no talk yet of any elections being held.
They also fear that the Rodríguez government could become more repressive should the Trump administration’s attention turn to other countries, such as Iran or Cuba.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado has not yet returned to the country after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo and many institutions such as the electoral council and the judiciary remain under the control of Maduro loyalists.