.
It made no sense to me why Trump would allow Meduro's VP Delcy Rodriguez in power, at least for a transitional period, when she is as illegitimate as Meduro is.
And Machado (at least before the last election was tampered with by Meduro's team) actually won the election by about 72% of the popular vote, so is clearly the more legitimate new leader.
AND she furher has worldwide recognition internationally with the Nobel prize for peace.
And I'm straining to make sense of it and come up with an explanation. The best I can come up with is even though Machado was legitimately elected 2 years ago, Trump doesn't want to just do what could be perceived, both in Venezuela, and internationally, as installing her as a U.S.-controlled puppet.
But with Meduro removed in an instant, Machado has had no time to plan how to lead Venezuela, particularly after the seismic shift after Meduro's instant removal.
So I'm guessing Trump is leaving Delcy Rodriguez in power, so anything that goes wrong in the transition period won't be blamed on Machado, and she can be permitted to take charge after she's had time to fully prepare her government and actually lead.
That Dulcy Rodriguez's government was attacking people who openly celebrated that Meduro has been removed, I think puts a chilling effect on the unifying victory in Venezuela that Meduro has been removed. But I hope that once caught, the Trump administration has put a stop to that initial crackdown done by the remaining Meduro government in Venezuela, with a strong message that the U.S. military can come right back and take them out too, if they try it again.
Time will tell.
