5 Unanswered Questions About Trump’s Venezuela Plan

Here are five major questions policymakers and journalists will puzzle over in the coming days—with some context for how to think about them.

After the White House’s audacious mission to snatch Nicolás Maduro and his wife from Caracas, there are more questions than answers about Venezuela’s future. It is also unclear what lessons U.S. President Donald Trump will draw from successfully toppling a brutal dictator, and how that might impact his foreign policy more broadly.

After the White House’s audacious mission to snatch Nicolás Maduro and his wife from Caracas, there are more questions than answers about Venezuela’s future. It is also unclear what lessons U.S. President Donald Trump will draw from successfully toppling a brutal dictator, and how that might impact his foreign policy more broadly.

Here are five major questions policymakers and journalists will puzzle over in the coming days—with some context for how to think about them.

1. Who is actually in charge?

Trump surprised the world when he announced on Saturday that the United States would “run” Venezuela until he was satisfied with a transition to a new leader. In reality, Maduro’s departure left Vice President Delcy Rodríguez in pole position. What this means is that the operation to nab Maduro was not quite a regime-change mission; it just removed the figurehead.