The C.I.A. director, John Ratcliffe, met with Delcy Rodríguez, the interim president of Venezuela, in Caracas on Thursday, reinforcing the Trump administration’s message that it sees the interim government as the best path to stability in the country in the short term,
The New York Times reports.
Mr. Ratcliffe is the most senior American official, and first cabinet member, to visit Venezuela since the U.S. military seized President Nicolás Maduro in a raid in the capital nearly two weeks ago.
The meeting came a day after President Trump spoke to Ms. Rodríguez on the phone and on the same day he met with María Corina Machado, the leader of Venezuela’s opposition and a Nobel laureate.
The high-profile visit by Mr. Ratcliffe, and the message of cooperation, could be seen as something of a snub to the opposition, whose supporters have been frustrated that the Trump administration has not tried to put Ms. Machado’s ally Edmundo González into power since Mr. Maduro was seized. Mr. González won the 2024 election, international election experts say, after Ms. Machado was barred from running, but Mr. Maduro refused to give up power.
A U.S. official said that Mr. Ratcliffe met with Ms. Rodríguez at Mr. Trump’s direction “to deliver the message that the United States looks forward to an improved working relationship.” The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive meeting, added that the two discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability and the need to ensure that the country was no longer a “safe haven for America’s adversaries, especially narco-traffickers.”
