Venezuela: Trump sets limits for Delcy Rodriguez and plans incentives for the Chavista leadership to achieve transition

While a mixed climate of hope and uncertainty reigns in Venezuela's cities after the capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces, the Trump administration has already drawn the line at the country's de facto leader, Delcy Rodriguez, who officially took over as Venezuela's interim head with the momentary approval of President Donald Trump and his team.

In an interview on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," secretary of state, Marco Rubio, one of the architects of the pressure against chavismo in recent months and one of Trump's standard-bearers to oversee the transition in Venezuela, assured that Washington will continue to defend "its national interests" after Maduro's capture and to pressure the Chavista leadership to fulfill its promises to follow the route marked out to achieve a political transition.

Rubio, who did not rule out the possibility of boots on the ground, said the Trump administration will evaluate Rodriguez's actions in the coming days-weeks and, based on their actions, make decisions consistent with Washington's current policy.

"If they don't make the right decisions, the United States will retain multiple levers of leverage to ensure that our interests are protected, and that includes the oil quarantine that's in place, among other things," Rubio said. "We're going to judge everything by what they do, and we're going to see what they do."

However, President Donald Trump was much clearer, telling The Atlantic that if Delcy Rodriguez does not cooperate, a future "much worse" than Maduro's awaits her. Later, aboard Air Force One, he confirmed that he had not spoken directly with the Chavista leader, but that she "is cooperating."

"We are in charge," he stated.

In that interview, for the first time, Trump said the U.S. is seeking elections in Venezuela after a transitional period and revealed that he asked Rodriguez for full access to the country.

"Total access. We need total access. We need access to the oil and to other things in their country that allow us to rebuild their country," Trump said, who continues to keep all options on the table.

Meanwhile, while Trump and his own top spokesmen are sending threatening signals to the Chavista leadership, the U.S. is already preparing incentives for top hierarchs to collaborate with the transition, Reuters reported.

According to the news agency, the White House is preparing for Maduro's collaborators' potential offers of amnesty or safe exile, similar to those the dictator rejected weeks ago before special forces took him out of the country and took him to New York.

Reuters noted that Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, both indicted for drug trafficking in the United States with multi-million dollar bounties on their heads, are the two main obstacles to achieving the transition due to their influence in the military and intelligence apparatus.

The news of potential amnesties and Trump's words about the U.S. running Venezuela come after Rodriguez herself, in a recorded message, condemned the capture of Nicolas Maduro, whom she called "president," and called for his immediate return in a defiant message.

However, almost immediately after Trump's statements, Rodriguez ducked her head and sent a message to the United States, the world and Trump, inviting Washington to work on "a cooperation agenda."

"We extend the invitation to the U.S. government to work together on a cooperation agenda, aimed at shared development, within the framework of international legality and strengthen a lasting community coexistence," Rodriguez said in a statement. "President Donald Trump: our people and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war. That has always been the predicament of President Nicolás Maduro and it is the predicament of all of Venezuela at this moment. That is the Venezuela I believe in, to which I have dedicated my life. My dream is for Venezuela to be a great power where all Venezuelan men and women of good will meet."