[drtgh]

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez is in charge, so nothing is gonna change for Venezuelan citizens.

Oil industry in Venezuela is Chinese, or for China, this is not gonna change either.

What we are seeing here is a show, or may be also more related to Venezuela being a narco-state.

[0xB31B1B]

not quite

The oil production there is completely decimated. They have huge reserves but production is low and falling because the regime doesn't do any maintenance or support of anything in the oil production and supply chain. It is very much the meme of "living in the ruins of a once great society".

[goatlover]

Sanctions had nothing to do with this?

[r721]

>Venezuela vice president Rodriguez in Russia, four sources say

>Her brother, Jorge Rodriguez, the head of the national assembly, is in Caracas, three sources with knowledge of his whereabouts said.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/venezuela-vice-presid...

[r721]

^ Disputed by NYT:

>While reports circulated that Ms. Rodríguez was in Russia at the time of the attacks, Ms. Rodríguez is in Caracas, according to three people close to her. Russian state media also denied reports that she was in Moscow.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/world/americas/maduro-ven...

[mapontosevenths]

You may be wrong about the oil industry, Trumps already saying it in between the lies/pretense about drugs.

"Trump says that the US is going to be "strongly involved" in Venezuela's oil industry moving forward." [0]

[0] https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c5yqygxe41pt

[card_zero]

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c5yqygxe41pt?post=asset%3Aea9f...

(Permalink, since it's on the second page of the live thread now.)

This live format is kind of irritating. Here's another one:

> He claims the oil business in Venezuela has been a "bust", and that large US companies are going to go into the country to fix the infrastructure and "start making money for the country"

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c5yqygxe41pt?post=asset%3A27af...

[drtgh]

Certainly I may be wrong. By the moment I just find it hard to believe that Taiwan has been traded for Venezuelan oil.

I mention Taiwan because I think it is the only currency that could make the Chinese government give up those barrels of oil without retaliating.

[ErneX]

I think the next in line is her brother, who is the president of the National Assembly (Congress).

[pstuart]

Venezuela is rich in mineral resources as well. Whatever it is the Trump admin is after, it's not democracy, it's some form of self-enrichment.

[actionfromafar]

Just a small reminder that we aren't talking about Epstein much today.

[pqtyw]

> Vice President Delcy Rodriguez is in charge

Today. She's still part of the same regime and party. It's not obvious Trump will let her stay in charge. Also the control the government had over the criminal gangs/syndicates/cartels was seemingly very weak anyway. Even if the current decapitated regime is allowed to stay it won't be very strong.

[CSMastermind]

The US has long recognized Edmundo González as the rightful president of the country following the 2024 election. I imagine they will try to install him.

Alternatively there's María Corina Machado who overwhelmingly won the presidential primary for that election but wasn't allowed to run.

[skippyboxedhero]

Some reports that she is already in Moscow.

I am not sure what you mean by "control the government had"...they are the same thing. It is like the situation with IRA and Sinn Fein, this bizarre roleplay where people (for various reasons) went to massive effort to imply they were separate when it was obvious they were led by the same people. There is no distinction between the government and cartels...the assumption that there is makes no sense at all given the latitude they have to operate.

[jacquesm]

> It's not obvious Trump will let her stay in charge.

What's he going to do, kidnap her? Oh, wait.

[slim]

This is a coup and she is part of the conspiracy

[smcl]

> Venezuela being a narco-state.

That is an insane take

[ethbr1]

Is it?

I'm skeptical, as it seems to have that ring of circa-2003 WMD justification about it, but I won't dismiss it out of hat.

And if the US intends to prosecute Maduro on drug crimes in SDNYC (good!), then they'll have to present evidence to the court, which presumably means they think they have a case.

Personally, I doubt Maduro intentionally ran a narco-state as a primary focus. But I can very much see a sizable narcotics enterprise, with state support, being used as a key way for him to enrich select supporters absent a viable economy. Money to pay the generals has to come from somewhere...