In the early hours of January 3, US special forces detained Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at his residence in Caracas. The Venezuelan government, led by Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, condemned the action as a kidnapping and announced that it would resist the US.
But her tone quickly changed. Just a day later, US President Donald Trump expressed his belief that Rodriguez was "indeed willing to do whatever it takes to make Venezuela great again". And indeed - that same day she invited the US government to work "together on a program of cooperation". Shortly after, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio presented a three-phase cooperation plan.
Phase 1: Consolidating power domestically
The interim president appears to have successfully completed phase 1 – filling the power vacuum created by Maduro’s departure. At least that’s what it looks like after her 100 days in office. She herself – with the consent of the military and the Supreme Court – was sworn in before parliament on January 5. Her brother Jorge Rodriguez has been acting president for some time.
Within a few weeks, Rodriguez has appointed new people to at least a dozen key positions. The most significant change: in March, Foreign Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez had to leave his post – probably also because of the failure to capture the president. His place was taken by the former head of the feared SEBIN secret service, Gustavo González López, whom Rodriguez had already appointed as her personal security chief in early January. So far, there has been no power struggle - Rodriguez's government seems consolidated.
Is Caracas playing to Washington's tune?
Despite numerous denials from Caracas, the Venezuelan government is largely sticking to Rubio's script. The tone towards Washington has also changed.
In an interview with the Spanish newspaper "El Pais" in early April, the speaker of parliament, Jorge Rodriguez, said that cooperation with the US government was proceeding very professionally. He denied receiving specific instructions from Washington. But the fact that the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) is praising collaboration with "American imperialists" is just as remarkable as the sudden enthusiasm for reform.
Phase 2: Economic Recovery
For more than a decade, the PSUV government under Nicolás Maduro has failed to bring inflation down to tolerable levels, let alone any economic growth. Now, in just a few weeks, Delcy Rodriguez has eased access to Venezuela's oil sector for foreign private investors.
In doing so, she has raised hopes that Venezuela's economy can stabilize - and not just at home, but abroad. The US ratings agency Moody's already sees the country on a "path to stabilization". At an investor conference in Miami in late March, which Rodriguez joined via video, she called for foreign investment in Venezuela in key sectors such as the oil industry, construction, banking and insurance, as well as the manufacturing sector.
Poverty is the most pressing problem in Venezuela
As shocking as the US attack on Venezuela's sovereignty was for many in the country, there were no major protests. Many are even glad that Maduro is gone, Juan Forero, head of the South American bureau of the Wall Street Journal, told the American magazine "Americas Quarterly". According to him, Venezuelans were confident that things would turn for the better and that the economy would get going again.
And that is exactly what excites most people. Since 2017, Venezuela has been suffering from hyperinflation: last year the devaluation reached 500 percent, and between 50 and 80 percent of households lived in poverty.
In a survey by the American institute "Gallup" in mid-2025, 64 percent of respondents identified the country's economic problems as their biggest concern. Less than a quarter of them, 14 percent, consider the political situation itself the number one problem. For only one percent of people, the security situation is the most important - in a country with one of the highest murder rates in the world.
Phase 3: Democratization
That's why the government knows: "The most important thing now is the economy". This was stated by the Speaker of Parliament Jorge Rodriguez in an interview with "El Pais" at the beginning of April. Democratic elections should also be held in the country, but when and in what form this will happen is not yet clear.
Repressions also continue: according to the organization Foro Penal, about 500 political prisoners have been released since January. But approximately the same number of those detained on political lines remain in prison.
"The reforms so far are not necessarily aimed at opening up and democratization, but rather aim to help the interim government stay in power indefinitely," says political scientist and university professor Victor M. Mijares.
Currently, the Socialist Party has little chance of winning new elections. Her last victory in mid-2024 was disputed by the opposition, which said its candidate won by a large majority. However, a tangible economic recovery could change attitudes.
That is why the government of Delcy Rodriguez is buying time, believes the correspondent of the "Wall Street Journal" Forero. Also in the hope that the United States, at the latest under a new president, could lose interest in the democratization of Venezuela.
Will the United States demand that Venezuela reach phase three?
Political analyst Mijares does not believe that these calculations will come true. On the one hand, some figures in the US government take the fight against socialism in Latin America very seriously – led by Secretary of State Rubio, who is the son of Cuban immigrants.
Additional pressure comes from the American economy, and in particular from the oil industry, which insists on the rule of law in Venezuela. And for Trump, the democratization of Venezuela is a kind of plan for "slow but cheaper regime change". On the other hand, the Venezuelan government faces a dilemma: Rodriguez must create the legal framework for the necessary inflow of capital. And a transitional government simply cannot do this.
Author: Jan Walter