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2026 has been an eventful year for Venezuela. Jan. 3rd brought a U.S. military operation that removed Nicolas Maduro, but left chavismo's criminal structure intact. Since then the Trump administration has oxigenated and empowered Maduro's associates, to the point of saying chavismo is in fact the better option. The absurdity of this cannot be overstated. It's like arresting, extraditing and throwing El Chapo in jail and in the same breath becoming partners with his son and lieutenants and carrying on with business. Last week two consecutive earthquakes shook the country and left many thousands dead, disappeared and affected. Evidently, chavismo didn't come to the rescue and the effort of its American tutors is worse than mediocre.
Trump, Marco Rubio, Mauricio Claver Carone just could not care less about Venezuela, Venezuelans and their plight. Exactly the same thing could be said about America, Americans and their plight, or Iran, Iranians, Ukraine, Ukrainians, etc. Each of them share a characteristic, which is the singularity of their focus on one thing only: personal benefit. Involvement in any given situation is not a calculus based on benefit to the common good, but ONLY to the personal.
It is still fresh in most Puerto Rican's memory Trump's grossly inefficient handling of Huricane Maria relief and rescue efforts, which is a perfectly valid beef reason between Bad Bunny and the President, and also the reason why Benito openly expresses his empathy towards Venezuelans at these dire times.
Alas Venezuela isn't Puerto Rico. The Trump administration announced an aid package. How much of that is American tax payers money, and how much is Venezuelan crude oil proceeds (now single-handedly and opaquely managed by the Trump administration) given back to Venezuela as "aid"?
The international community reacted as it does when natural disasters occur, and many countries sent aid, supplies, search & rescue teams and so on. Thank god that happened, because after 26 years of chavismo Venezuela does not even have firemen to rescue victims, ambulances and hospitals to attend the injured, much less search & rescue teams to save those buried under rubble. The State ceased existing long ago, and what replaced it is a criminal gang that has perfected political survival at all costs. No wonder Trump & co and Delcy Rodriguez & co get along magnificently. On that too they're cut from same cloth.
While this perverse show happens, the real and only legitimate opposition leader miscalculated. Maria Corina Machado couldn’t have possibly foreseen what would happen on Jan. 3rd, even though very well placed sources knew what was coming but chose not to share it. This demonstrated how little Trump & co think of her leadership and what he managed to coordinate to expose Maduro's "elections". Perhaps the sticky point that Delcy drove with Trump & co -since betraying Maduro- was a non-negotiable clause on not allowing Machado back into the country, under any circumstance, so brother Jorge (architect of all electoral frauds since chavismo came to power) wouldn’t have to suffer the indignity of facing his electoral nemesis without being able to throw her in a dungeon.
Machado also miscalculated about the effects of giving The Nobel Peace Prize to Trump. The goodwill hardly lasted the time for the photo op. Trump isn’t someone who can be permanently bought. Everything is fleeting, transactional. One day tariff announcements. Truth Social posts. Cease fire "agreements". Political support. If it seems to help him, the second he's considering a given issue, it'll be a yes. The following moment another proposal might undo what has just been agreed, and that'll be absolutely fine. Trump's loyalty is only to himself. Nothing else matters. So Delcy & Jorge like.
Where machado erred biggest was on her return to Venezuela. She shouldn't have waited. She shouldn't have shared her return plans. She most definitely shouldn’t be asking for anyone's permission. She should have gone back, right after Jan 3rd. Her political capital's source of legitimacy is the Venezuelan people and only exists and has force, momentum and a clear mandate in Venezuela, where she is more popular than any of her foes ever were. Abroad, she's another Juan Guaido, another Reza Pahlavi. Good for rallies with the diaspora, conferences, media interviews and the odd prize. That's about it.
She should return. Immediately, before is too late, knowing full well that she'll get no concessions. Before Trump & co and Delcy & co carve up what's remaining. She should force their hand, dare them to arrest her, knowing that a Navalny-type scenario is unlikely to repeat.
Machado has formidable new enemies in Washington, an environment that has gotten Venezuela's problems wrong for two and half decades now (and still counting). U.S. administrations have no right to be deciding our country's future, or unaccountably managing our resources, or dictating terms on when the next election will take place. F all of that.
