Delcy Rodríguez has a Gun Pointed at her Head – Does She have Options?
Delcy Rodríguez has a Gun Pointed at her Head – Does She have Options?STEVE ELLNERDonald Trump’s success in wresting concessions from Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez is a clear demonstration of what can be achieved through the barrel of a gun. Just hours after the military incursion that resulted in the kidnaping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores on January 3, Trump boasted “we’re going to run the country” and shortly thereafter called himself Venezuela’s “acting president.” He has also heaped praise on Rodríguez for serving both U.S. and Venezuelan interests, explaining "She's doing a great job because she's working with us.”It’s not hard to understand why Rodríguez – whose father was a revolutionary martyr – has been so compliant. On January 3, just hours after the kidnapping of Maduro and Flores, Trump publicly threatened then vice-president Rodríguez and other Chavista leaders with what amounted to decapitation, along with a far larger military assault. According to Rodríguez, Rubio by phone gave her and the second-in-command Diosdado Cabello 15 minutes to acquiesce to Washington’s new terms or face death. As she put it, “the threats and the blackmail are constant.”Some critics of the leftist government question [...]