By Kevin Liptak, Kristen Holmes and Jennifer Hansler for CNN
Photo: AFP / JIM WATSON
President Donald Trump's administration is working quickly to establish a pliant interim government in Venezuela following the dramatic capture of NicolΓ‘s Maduro, according to US officials, prioritizing administrative stability and repairing the country's oil infrastructure over an immediate turn to democracy.
Officials described a multifold effort using American military and economic leverage to influence the remnants of Maduro's regime left inside Venezuela. In particular, US officials have focused squarely on the country's vice president, Delcy RodrΓguez, who Trump advisers identified weeks ago as a viable, if nonpermanent, alternative to Maduro.
Senior-level US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, top aide Stephen Miller and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, have been working to develop a structure for Venezuela's government in the wake of Maduro's ouster, according to a senior US official. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright have been tasked with convincing American ene
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