As the US threatened Nicolás Maduro’s grip on power in recent months, a cadre of executives, lawyers and investors tied to the oil industry made their case to anyone who would listen – the Donald Trump administration, congressional aides: his familiar number two Delcy Rodríguez should fill his shoes in Venezuela.
An oil minister herself, Rodríguez has long been the go-to contact for senior executives, whom she impressed by navigating Venezuela’s industry through international sanctions, economic pressures and internal mismanagement. Her loyalty to the Maduro regime notwithstanding, she’d be best positioned to shepherd through the US plan to restore Venezuela to its glory days as an oil gusher, argued executives and lobbyists.
US President Donald Trump’s inner circle came to the same conclusion, though people familiar with the matter say they did so independently. Both groups believed that the vice-president, long seen as a bridge between the government and private sector, could stabilise Venezuela’s oil-based economy and facilitate US business faster than leading dissident María Corina Machado could, said the people.
Administration officials were mindful of the chaos that ensued in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
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