Maduro Party Still in Power Post-Strike01/07 06:08

   Venezuela's opposition supporters have long hoped for the day when Nicols 
Maduro is no longer in power -- a dream that was fulfilled when the U.S. 
military whisked the authoritarian leader away. But while Maduro is in jail in 
New York on drug trafficking charges, the leaders of his repressive 
administration remain in charge.

   CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's opposition supporters have long hoped 
for the day when Nicols Maduro is no longer in power -- a dream that was 
fulfilled when the U.S. military whisked the authoritarian leader away. But 
while Maduro is in jail in New York on drug trafficking charges, the leaders of 
his repressive administration remain in charge.

   The nation's opposition -- backed by consecutive Republican and Democratic 
administrations in the U.S. -- for years vowed to immediately replace Maduro 
with one of their own and restore democracy to the oil-rich country. But U.S. 
President Donald Trump delivered them a heavy blow by allowing Maduro's vice 
president, Delcy Rodrguez, to assume control.

   Meanwhile, most opposition leaders, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Mara 
Corina Machado, are in exile or prison.

   "They were clearly unimpressed by the sort of ethereal magical realism of 
the opposition, about how if they just gave Maduro a push, it would just be 
this instant move toward democracy," David Smilde, a Tulane University 
professor who has studied Venezuela for three decades, said of the Trump 
administration.

   The U.S. seized Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores in a military operation 
Saturday, removing them both from their home on a military base in Venezuela's 
capital, Caracas. Hours later, Trump said the U.S. would "run" Venezuela and 
expressed skepticism that Machado could ever be its leader.

   "She doesn't have the support within, or the respect within, the country," 
Trump told reporters. "She's a very nice woman, but she doesn't have the 
respect."

   Ironically, Machado's unending praise for the American president, including 
dedicating her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump and her backing of U.S. campaigns to 
deport Venezuelan migrants and attack alleged drug traffickers in international 
waters, has lost her some support at home.

   The rightful winner of Venezuela's presidential election

   Machado rose to become Maduro's strongest opponent in recent years, but his 
government barred her from running for office to prevent her from challenging 
-- and likely beating -- him in the 2024 presidential election. She chose 
retired ambassador Edmundo Gonzlez Urrutia to represent her on the ballot.

   Officials loyal to the ruling party declared Maduro the winner mere hours 
after the polls closed, but Machado's well-organized campaign stunned the 
nation by collecting detailed tally sheets showing Gonzlez had defeated Maduro 
by a 2-to-1 margin.

   The U.S. and other nations recognized Gonzlez as the legitimate winner.

   However, Venezuelans identify Machado, not Gonzlez, as the winner, and the 
charismatic opposition leader has remained the voice of the campaign, pushing 
for international support and insisting her movement will replace Maduro.

   In her first televised interview since Maduro's capture, Machado effusively 
praised Trump and failed to acknowledge his snub of her opposition movement in 
the latest transition of power.

   "I spoke with President Trump on Oct. 10, the same day the prize was 
announced, not since then," she told Fox News on Monday. "What he has done as I 
said is historic, and it's a huge step toward a democratic transition."

   Hopes for a new election

   U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday seemed to walk back Trump's 
assertion that the U.S. would "run" Venezuela. In interviews, Rubio insisted 
that Washington will use control of Venezuela's oil industry to force policy 
changes, and called its current government illegitimate. The country is home to 
the world's largest proven crude oil reserves.

   Neither Trump nor Rodrguez have said when, or if, elections might take 
place in Venezuela.

   Venezuela's constitution requires an election within 30 days whenever a 
president becomes "permanently unavailable" to serve. Reasons listed include 
death, resignation, removal from office or "abandonment" of duties as declared 
by the National Assembly. That electoral timeline was rigorously followed when 
Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chvez, died of cancer in 2013.

   On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally who traveled with 
the president on Air Force One on Sunday, said he believes an election will 
happen but did not specify when or how.

   "We're going to build the country up -- infrastructure wise -- crescendoing 
with an election that will be free," the South Carolina Republican told 
reporters.

   But Maduro loyalists in the high court Saturday, citing another provision of 
the constitution, declared Maduro's absence "temporary" meaning there is no 
election requirement. Instead, the vice president -- which is not an elected 
position -- takes over for up to 90 days, with a provision to extend to six 
months if approved by the National Assembly, which is controlled by the ruling 
party.

   Challenges lie ahead for the opposition

   In its ruling, Venezuela's Supreme Court made no mention of the 180-day 
limit, leading to speculation that Rodrguez could try to cling to power as she 
seeks to unite ruling party factions and shield it from what would certainly be 
a stiff electoral challenge.

   Machado on Monday criticized Rodrguez as "one the main architects of 
torture, persecution, corruption, narco-trafficking ... certainly not an 
individual that can be trusted by international investors."

   Even if an election takes place, Machado and Gonzlez would first have to 
find a way back into Venezuela.

   Gonzlez has been in exile in Spain since September 2024 and Machado left 
Venezuela last month when she appeared in public for the first time in 11 
months to receive her Nobel Prize in Norway.

   Ronal Rodrguez, a researcher at the Venezuela Observatory in Colombia's 
Universidad del Rosario, said the Trump administration's decision to work with 
Rodrguez could harm the nation's "democratic spirit."

   "What the opposition did in the 2024 election was to unite with a desire to 
transform the situation in Venezuela through democratic means, and that is 
embodied by Mara Corina Machado and, obviously, Edmundo Gonzlez Urrutia," he 
said. "To disregard that is to belittle, almost to humiliate, Venezuelans."