Mike Baker

Some opposition supporters in Venezuela are voicing frustration that Washington hasn't moved immediately to install Machado's ally, Edmundo Gonzalez.

The international community has acknowledged, of course, that Gonzalez was the winner of the 2024 election, which, of course, Maduro then stole.

His victory came after Machado was barred from running.

But what the White House appears to be signaling is that this phase is about keeping the country from unraveling into prolonged chaos, not reshuffling leadership overnight.

And that framing is how the administration described Ratcliffe's trip.

A U.S.

official speaking on the condition of anonymity said the CIA director traveled at Trump's discretion to deliver a straightforward message.

The U.S.

is seeking an approved working relationship with Caracas.

The discussion, the anonymous official says, focused on intelligence cooperation, economic stability, and making sure Venezuela no longer serves as a safe haven for America's adversaries, particularly narco-traffickers.

Inside the White House, the visit is viewed less as a snub to the opposition and more as an endorsement of continuity.

The thinking is that Rodriguez, at least for now, represents a stabilizing force at a moment when Venezuela is still absorbing the shock of Maduro's capture.

As early as last summer, senior U.S.

officials were already debating how to remove Maduro without triggering a broader collapse of the Venezuelan state.

Around the same time, the Trump administration was assembling a counter-drug campaign centered on maritime interdictions and strikes, operations which eventually led to Maduro's capture.

Administration officials in those talks said Trump's objective was never in doubt.

Maduro had to go.

The harder question, of course, was what followed.

Some senior officials warned that dismantling the Venezuelan regime outright, even to make way for a respected opposition figure, risked repeating the U.S.

mistake in Iraq back in the day, where breaking apart state institutions fueled years of insurgency and instability.