Maduro’s Replacement Backs Down and Offers to Cooperate

Less than 24 hours after U.S. forces took Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro into custody, his longtime second-in-command is singing a different tune.

Delcy Rodriguez, who stepped into Maduro’s role immediately following his dramatic arrest and extradition to New York, issued a statement Sunday softening her rhetoric and extending a hand to the United States. In stark contrast to the threats she made just a day earlier, Rodriguez is now calling for “cooperation” and “peace.”

“We extend an invitation to the U.S. government to work together on a cooperation agenda,” Rodriguez stated, adding that Venezuela “deserves peace and dialogue, not war.” She even referenced President Trump by name, striking an almost pleading tone in her appeal.

This sudden shift in posture didn’t come out of nowhere. It came after a powerful U.S. military operation led by President Trump that took down one of the Western Hemisphere’s most dangerous narco-dictators in a matter of hours. Maduro, long a symbol of brutal socialism and cartel corruption, was escorted onto a U.S. warship bound for trial in New York. His wife was taken into custody as well.

Rodriguez’s apparent olive branch isn’t fooling everyone.

President Trump made it clear that any so-called “cooperation” will be closely scrutinized. “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price probably bigger than Maduro,” Trump warned. He acknowledged that Rodriguez had already spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and offered to be “gracious,” but reminded the public, “She really doesn’t have a choice.”

Key leaders within the administration remain skeptical:

• Secretary Marco Rubio emphasized that Venezuela’s current regime remains illegitimate and that only real elections and a transition of power can bring any credibility back to the country.

• Senator Tom Cotton echoed those concerns, pointing out that Rodriguez was complicit in Maduro’s crimes just days ago and that true reform requires more than words.

• Sanctions and indictments still hang over many members of the regime, including Rodriguez, making trust in any “cooperation” highly questionable.

The message from Washington is clear: gestures aren’t enough. Real change means real action starting with dismantling the cartel networks, ending repression, and allowing free, fair elections for the Venezuelan people.

Rodriguez’s appeal is being viewed by many as a desperate attempt to cling to power now that the man she served for years is headed for a U.S. courtroom. But unlike past administrations that might have taken the bait, President Trump’s foreign policy doctrine has always been one of strength, not appeasement.

After decades of soft-handed diplomacy and empty negotiations, America is finally making progress in cleaning up the narco-states infecting the Western Hemisphere. Maduro’s fall is just the beginning. And unless Delcy Rodriguez is ready to completely flip the script, she may be next.

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