""I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader," he told reporters after the mission that plucked Maduro from Venezuela. State of play: Instead, Trump has backed Delcy Rodríguez, the country's acting leader and Maduro's vice president. Trump said Wednesday that he had "very good" discussions with Rodríguez and that there had been "tremendous progress" toward stabilization. However, recent polls have demonstrated the strong popular support for Machado."
"The intrigue: More than half of Venezuelans say Machado should lead, compared to some 14% who endorsed Rodríguez, per an AtlasIntel survey published this week by Bloomberg News. Catch up quick: In his first press conference after the U.S. operation in Venezuela, Trump said he'd like to see elections held "quickly." He later told the NYT it could be "much longer" than a year before the country is ready for elections."
U.S. officials have backed Delcy Rodríguez as the acting leader while polls show María Machado has majority popular support. Trump said he had very good discussions with Rodríguez and cited tremendous progress toward stabilization, but he also indicated elections might take much longer than a year. An AtlasIntel survey found over half of Venezuelans favor Machado versus roughly 14% for Rodríguez. Secretary Marco Rubio proposed a threefold path: stabilization using an oil quarantine to force compliance, followed by recovery and transition. U.S. strategists view Rodríguez as better positioned to reform the oil sector and limit unrest; Machado remains an anti-regime hardliner with strong street support.
Read at Axios
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]