Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is sending urgent warnings to President Trump's administration about the dangerous game being played in Caracas, where Maduro's handpicked successor is trying to fool the world into thinking Venezuela has legitimate leadership.
The brave freedom fighter who has risked everything to oppose the socialist dictatorship is telling Trump's team the hard truth: interim president Rodriguez isn't representing the Venezuelan people – he's representing the same anti-American forces that have turned the oil-rich nation into a failed state under Maduro's reign of terror.
Trump Team Faces Critical Decision
This puts the Trump administration in a crucial position as they craft their Venezuela transition strategy. Will they fall for the same diplomatic games that allowed the Maduro regime to survive for years, or will they recognize what Patriots like Machado are telling them – that switching figureheads doesn't change the corrupt system underneath?
Machado's warning comes at a time when President Trump has made it clear his administration won't tolerate the continued destabilization of our hemisphere by socialist dictators and their enablers. The Venezuela crisis has created millions of refugees flooding toward our southern border, and Trump knows American security depends on getting this right.
The Venezuelan people deserve real democracy, not another puppet show designed to keep the same corrupt elites in power while ordinary citizens suffer.
This is exactly the kind of deep state maneuvering that Trump has spent his career exposing. Foreign adversaries love installing their own people and then claiming legitimacy while continuing to work against American interests and democratic values.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who knows the Latin American political landscape better than almost anyone in Washington, will need to cut through the diplomatic nonsense and focus on what actually serves American interests and Venezuelan freedom.
The question Patriots should be asking: Will Trump's America First approach finally break the cycle of failed Venezuelan leadership, or will the establishment try to convince him that more of the same is somehow different this time?