The Trump Administration and Venezuela: What Now?

The decision by the U.S. President Donald Trump administration to seize Venezuelan President Nicholás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, to stand trial in the United States reflects the administration’s willingness to undertake a muscular intervention in the Western Hemisphere. Delcy Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, has taken over as the interim president and seems to be on an uncertain path forward working with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. However, Trump’s statement that the United States plans to “run” Venezuela until a permanent, stable transition can be realized raises more questions than it answers, in Venezuela and about U.S. foreign policy at large.  

What precisely are the Trump administration’s objectives in Venezuela? Was this a law enforcement operation or a serious effort to create a new political reality in Venezuela? Who are the key Venezuelan players the United States needs to engage and what is the role of the Venezuelan military? And what are the administration’s intentions toward the Venezuelan oil industry and the role of American companies? 

Join Aaron David Miller as he engages the International Crisis Group’s Phil Gunson, the Baker Institute’s Francisco Monaldi, and Johns Hopkins SAIS’s Cindy Arnson on these and other issues, on the next Carnegie Connects.