A Tale of Two Meetings: Trump Chooses Oil Over Democracy

One has US sanctions imposed on her for undermining democracy. The other just won the Nobel Peace Prize. Both want to lead Venezuela.

President Donald Trump made clear this week which one he preferred.

Delcy Rodríguez — the sanctioned Vice President of the ousted autocrat Nicolás Maduro — is “a terrific person” with whom “we’re getting along very well,” Mr Trump said Wednesday after what he described as a “great conversation” with Ms Rodríguez, whom he has backed as Venezuela’s interim President.

A day later, he had lunch with María Corina Machado — leader of the Venezuelan opposition — and took the medal she was awarded for the Nobel Peace Prize, which he had repeatedly said he deserved.

During their meeting, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters that “based on realities on the ground,” Mr Trump believed Ms Machado lacked the respect and support to be Venezuela’s leader.

That echoed his previous comments, despite signs of Ms Machado’s broad approval in Venezuela.

As for Ms Rodríguez, she has “been extremely cooperative” and agreed to share Venezuela’s oil with the United States, Ms Leavitt said, so “the President likes what he’s seeing and will expect that cooperation to continue.”

Mr Trump’s now-clear endorsement of a Maduro loyalist over a crusader for democracy supports the notion that his goal in Venezuela appears to be first about creating a stable, allied source of oil — and then maybe, if and when the time comes, a democratic transition.

“He is also committed to hopefully seeing elections in Venezuela one day,” Ms Leavitt said Thursday. “But I don’t have an updated timetable for you today.”

Ms Machado said the time was now. “I told him we’re ready to move forward quickly and effectively toward a transition to democracy,” she said on Thursday in a 1000-word news release about her visit to Washington.

She added that she had told Mr Trump about human-rights abuses committed under Maduro and Ms Rodríguez.

Mr Trump’s 48-word social media post about the meeting thanked Ms Machado for giving him “her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done.” He added it was “such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect.”

(The Nobel Institute again shared a public reminder on Thursday that the 7-ounce gold medal “can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot.”)

Ms Machado later told Fox News that she had given Mr Trump the medal on behalf of the Venezuelan people “because he deserves it.”

Around the same time, in Venezuela, Ms Rodríguez was delivering her first State of the Union address — and skewering the United States.

“There is a stain on our relations,” she told the National Assembly. “They crossed the red line.”

“We know they are a lethal nuclear power,” she added. “We’ve seen their record over the history of humanity, and we’re not afraid to confront them diplomatically.”

She also appeared to be referring to Ms Machado when she made a swipe at opposition figures “who competed to see who could grovel the most,” while saying that if she had to go to Washington, “I will do so standing tall.”

The language fit with years of attacks against the United States by Maduro and his government. Watching only Venezuelan state television in recent days could make one think that Ms Rodríguez was bent on confronting Mr Trump. But in the background, there have been clear signs of cooperation.

Ms Rodríguez’s government has been opening up Venezuela’s oil to US interests, released more than 80 political prisoners and began exploring the reopening of its embassy in Washington.

“They have thus far met all of the demands,” Ms Leavitt said Thursday.

At the same time, hundreds of political dissidents remain imprisoned, and Venezuelans report increased repression in the country, including armed men at checkpoints who search residents’ phones for signs of opposition.

Before Maduro’s capture, some White House officials, as well as a CIA analysis, argued that Ms Machado and her allies would struggle to consolidate control of Venezuela if installed as its leaders. Ms Rodríguez, they argued, represented the most stable near-term option.

Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio described a threefold plan for Venezuela. “Step one is the stabilisation of the country,” he said. “We don’t want it descending into chaos.” The next steps involved securing Venezuela’s oil, followed by amnesty for the opposition. “Some of this will overlap,” he said.

Mr Trump has repeatedly discussed Venezuela’s oil — and has hardly ever mentioned a democratic transition. On Wednesday, in a post about his call with Ms Rodríguez, he said they had discussed “Oil, Minerals, Trade and, of course, National Security.”

“We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” he told The New York Times last week, after saying that he envisioned the United States controlling Venezuela for “much longer” than a year. “And we’re going to be taking oil.”

When asked about elections, he repeatedly deflected. “I love democracy,” he said at one point. “I’m a big fan.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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