Venezuela: Machado hands Trump the Peace Prize – CIA chief meets with Delcy

Every day that passes since the imperialist aggression of 3 January, and the kidnapping of the Venezuelan president and his wife, brings new information that clarifies the picture and needs to be analysed.

Let's start at the beginning. On Thursday 15 January, the reactionary Yankee stooge (and Nobel Peace Prize winner) María Corina Machado finally met with President Trump. But the meeting did not go as she and her vociferous supporters had hoped. No one greeted her at the door of the White House to take a photo. Her own bodyguard opened the car door for her and she had to walk through the security arch.

“A courtesy visit”

Machado must have thought that it is good manners when you visit someone to bring a small gift, so she decided to bring the US president what he most desires: the Nobel Peace Prize medal. But as it seemed a little small, she had it set in a huge frame (gold for greater effect), along with a message recording the donation “on behalf of the people of Venezuela”, the letters large enough to be legible in the long-awaited photo with the US president.

That Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize, considering her constant agitation in favour of the US invading and militarily attacking her own country, is scandalous enough – although it should be noted that she is in good company, as quite a few war criminals also have the coveted medal. But for her to think that giving it to Trump would win his favour is embarrassing.

Perhaps even Machado herself (or more likely one of her advisers) realised this, as she pulled out of her sleeve a story about a medallion that Washington gave to Bolívar 200 years ago... which has nothing to do with the case at hand. Machado is not Bolívar, that much is clear; nor did Trump obviously have any interest in giving Machado what she so desperately wanted in return: the presidency of Venezuela.

In any case, it seems that she did not leave the White House completely empty-handed. A photograph from the news agencies shows Machado leaving the White House with a bag of souvenirs, like the ones children take home from a birthday party with a piece of cake and some sweets, in this case perhaps a MAGA cap autographed by Trump. Some people are satisfied with very little.

What is clear is that Trump is convinced that he has a good relationship with Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodríguez in Caracas. That is, a relationship mediated by the brutal violence of 3 January, when he kidnapped the president of Venezuela through a military blockade, and which allows him to blackmail the acting president.

In case it wasn’t clear, the White House told the press that the meeting with Machado was nothing more than ‘a courtesy visit’ and that it would not change Trump’s policy towards Venezuela. Trump himself explained it again in case it wasn’t clear: in Iraq, the US destroyed the state and then the military joined ISIS. The memory of that disaster is what motivates US imperialism to rely on Maduro’s government in Venezuela, while keeping Maduro behind bars in New York as a hostage, just in case.

But that was not the only meeting that took place on Thursday, 15 January. At almost the same time that Trump was meeting with the Nobel Peace Prize winner in Washington, CIA Director John Ratcliffe was meeting with Delcy Rodríguez in the VIP terminal of Maiquetía International Airport in Venezuela.

An extraordinary meeting

The meeting can only be considered extraordinary. Some press reports claim that Diosdado Cabello was also present, although this has not been confirmed. The person we do know was present, because he appears in one of the photos leaked by the CIA itself, is the new head of the General Directorate of Military Intelligence (DGCIM), and commander general of the Presidential Guard of Honour, General Gustavo González López, appointed after the attack on 3 January.

I say that the meeting is extraordinary because on 3 January, just 12 days earlier, CIA Director Ratcliffe was sitting at the operations table with Trump, Rubio, Hegseth, and senior military commanders watching the unfolding live of the brutal US military aggression against Venezuela that left 83 dead (79 military personnel and four civilians).

What’s more, the CIA, under the command of Director Ratcliffe, played a decisive role in the entire operation. It had been planned for months, with operatives infiltrated within Venezuela and informants within President Maduro's inner circle of defence.

CIA Director Ratcliffe was sitting at the operations table with Trump, Rubio, Hegseth, and senior military commanders watching the unfolding live of the brutal US military aggression against Venezuela / Image: public domain

In other words, the same person directly responsible for much of the execution of the military aggression is now being sent by Washington to give instructions to Venezuela. However, Delcy welcomed him with a handshake and a smile, and the director of the DGCIM was also all smiles with the CIA director.

Finally, on the same day and at almost the same time, Cuba received with honours the remains of the 32 Cuban soldiers who died in the US attack. It can be said that they were killed by Ratcliffe's hand. 11 of them, it has been reported, were killed while they slept, with no chance to defend themselves.

And what was the message brought by the CIA director? According to the New York Times, citing a US administration source:

“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.’”

“An improved working relationship”! Until now, if I am not mistaken, the relationship between the CIA and the Venezuelan government has been one in which the Agency has done everything possible to overthrow the authorities in Caracas. They’ve resorted to coup attempts, street riots, energy sabotage, mercenary incursions, and espionage at the highest level, culminating on 3 January with the kidnapping of the president.

On this basis, clearly it isn’t difficult for the “working relationship” to improve. Really, Ratcliffe’s visit seems like that of the owner of a shop visiting the manager who runs it, to make sure that everything is going well in the business and to give him precise instructions.

In this case, the instructions are clear: “to ensure that the country is no longer a safe haven for America’s adversaries”.

As plain as day

In my country, we say ‘it's as plain as day’. The interests of the United States are what determine with whom Venezuela can or cannot have relations. When the CIA enters through Maiquetía airport, Venezuela's sovereignty goes out the window.

The acting government of Delcy Rodríguez has offered no explanation or statement about this extraordinary meeting with one of the most important leaders of the 3 January military aggression and the kidnapping of the president.

In fact, the information about the CIA chief's visit to Venezuela was leaked to the media, with photos to prove it, by the CIA itself.

On Saturday 17 January, a Reuters article was published that caused quite a stir, reporting that the US had been in contact with Diosdado Cabello before and after the attack on 3 January:

“Trump administration officials had been in discussions with Venezuela's hardline interior minister Diosdado Cabello months before the U.S. operation to seize President Nicolas Maduro, and have been in communication with him since then, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.”

So far, Cabello has not denied this information. To be clear, the Reuters article does not say that Cabello knew in advance or was involved in the US plan to kidnap Maduro. All it says is that the channels of communication, which obviously existed prior to 3 January, between the Trump administration and senior Venezuelan officials, specifically included Diosdado Cabello.

It is significant that it was the US itself that leaked both stories to the press (about the CIA director’s visit to Delcy and about the contacts with Diosdado). The objective is clear: to send a clear signal to everyone that the US trusts the government in Caracas, in all its wings, and that it will work through it to achieve its objectives. It is a message to the government itself, and also to the Machado opposition.

“Don’t leave yet, there’s more”, as they used to say in the Mighty Mouse cartoons.

The Hydrocarbons Law

On the same Thursday, Delcy Rodríguez spoke in the Venezuelan National Assembly (we do not know if it was before or after receiving the CIA director) and, among other things, announced that she was submitting a proposal to reform the Hydrocarbons Law.

Delcy Rodríguez has not disclosed the content of the proposed reform to the hydrocarbons law / Image: public domain

The current hydrocarbons law is the one Hugo Chávez enacted in 2001, which restored Venezuela’s rights vis-à-vis multinationals. It established that any joint ventures with private companies must be with a majority stake held by PDVSA, Venezuela’s state oil company. It also doubled royalties to 30 percent, and put an end to the ‘oil opening’, in which foreign companies were free to exploit Venezuelan oil. The approval of this law, as part of a package of 49 enabling laws, was one of the reasons that led the oligarchy and imperialism to launch the coup against Chávez in April 2002.

The law was subsequently amended in 2006-07 to further favour Venezuelan national interests in oil exploitation. The corporate income tax rate for oil projects was increased from 34 percent to 50 percent and total royalties to 33 percent. In addition, 32 ‘operating contracts’ from the 1990s were terminated, forcing private companies to abandon or migrate to the Joint Venture model, where the state (through PDVSA) held at least 60 percent ownership.

Chávez also approved a decree for the migration of the four main ‘Strategic Associations’ in the Orinoco Belt (multi-million dollar projects to extract the extra-heavy crude oil that is abundant in this region) to joint ventures controlled by PDVSA.

This set of laws established a legal and tax framework that was very favourable to Venezuela, and unfavourable to multinational oil companies, something that imperialism never forgave Chávez for.

Several multinational companies accepted the new regime and migrated to joint ventures (including Chevron, Italy’s ENI, and Spain’s Repsol), but at least two American multinationals refused (ConocoPhillips and Exxon) and began a long process of international litigation against Venezuela.

In 2020, under Maduro’s government, there were significant changes to this regime through the so-called Anti-Blockade Law, which improved the position of multinational companies in joint ventures with PDVSA.

At Trump’s meeting on 9 January 2026 with the bosses (sorry, ‘executives’) of the multinational oil companies, Exxon already made its return to Venezuela conditional on the need for ‘legal certainty’, ‘guarantees of non-expropriation’, and substantial reform of the Hydrocarbons Law.

What are these oil vultures demanding? Among other things, “the right to freely export the oil they produce in Venezuela”, since PDVSA currently sells the oil on the world market and deposits the multinationals’ share in their accounts.

This system has ceased to function in practice due to the criminal sanctions imposed by the US. According to Reuters, the oil companies “are also seeking to remove extra taxes introduced by the government after the law was approved in 2021, only preserving royalties and income tax”.

In other words, what they want is to destroy what remains of Chávez’s legacy of the hydrocarbons law and, with it, Venezuela’s oil sovereignty.

Delcy Rodríguez has not disclosed the content of the proposed reform to the hydrocarbons law, beyond saying that it is in line with Chevron’s licence and the anti-blockade law. In both cases, this implies concessions to multinationals. We will see how far these go.

Not only that, but the acting president also proposed amending the labour law, which was also enacted by Chávez and effectively destroyed by the Maduro government with a series of instructions in August 2018.

Putting it bluntly, in her ‘address to the nation’ speech, Delcy Rodríguez made a lot of empty talk. She did not mention the word ‘socialism’ once. Just in case you don’t believe me, the full speech is here.

Semi-colonial arrangement

There have also been unconfirmed reports about the sale of oil that had been stored due to the US blockade. The first sale, worth $500 million, has already taken place, and the money has been deposited in a bank account in Qatar, under the control of the US government.

According to press reports, part of that money (reportedly $330 million) will be sent to Venezuela through four private banks, which will auction it off to private actors, with priority given to those who want to import food and supplies for US production.

The first sale, worth $500 million, has already taken place, and the money has been deposited in a bank account in Qatar, under the control of the US government / Image: public domain

The bolívars obtained at these exchange tables will be deposited in the Central Bank of Venezuela, but can only be used for specific projects determined by the US. This would include the payment of salaries, the recovery of the health sector (which Delcy Rodríguez has already said will be done in collaboration with the private sector), and the recovery of the electricity sector and other infrastructure. The acting president also stated that an electronic system would be created to ensure transparency in the use of these resources.

No one has said anything about the remaining $170 million from the sale.

If we look at this carefully, we can begin to untangle the knot. The US is responsible for selling Venezuelan oil and managing the funds obtained. Preference is given to US buyers (Gulf refineries), but the rest is sold to the best buyer at market prices (not at the discounts that until now they were forced to offer to circumvent sanctions, nor in repayment of Chinese debt).

The funds obtained are protected from Venezuela’s creditors, for now, and are sent (or at least part of them) to Venezuela, but to be used under US supervision.

If, as it seems, Trump’s priority is economic, social, and political stability in Venezuela, under Washington’s tutelage, it is possible that part of these funds, which legitimately belong to Venezuela, will be used to solve some of the serious problems afflicting the country. Healthcare, for example, by paying private clinics to perform surgical procedures. The electricity sector, by importing equipment and spare parts from the US.

In reality, the US is not disbursing any money, as the funds come from the sale of Venezuelan oil.

Dismantling of the Bolivarian Revolution

But this agreement actually means a virtually total loss of sovereignty, because none of this would work without the cooperation of Delcy Rodríguez's government in Caracas. As I wrote in a previous article, this is a semi-colonial arrangement.

This agreement actually means a virtually total loss of sovereignty, because none of this would work without the cooperation of Delcy Rodríguez's government / Image: own work

The US controls the flow and sale of oil and the use of the resulting funds, to ensure that Venezuela ceases to be under the sphere of influence of “US adversaries”, as Ratcliffe put it in his meeting with Rodríguez.

Anyone who describes this as a situation in which Venezuela has ‘its sovereignty intact’ because ‘the unity of political and military leadership’ is maintained is deceiving themselves and others.

The unity of political and military leadership may be maintained for now, but that is useless if, in fact, this leadership is subject to the dictates of American imperialism, if it acts as Washington’s errand boy. There is no practical difference between doing so through blackmail or voluntarily – the practical result is the same.

And it’s not just about oil. On 16 January, the American online news outlet Axios published an exclusive interview with US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, in which he stated that he was “looking to secure oil and critical minerals deals with Venezuela in the next few weeks ahead of a trip to Caracas”. When asked by journalists if this was looting, Wright replied that his “counterparts in Venezuela are thrilled by this”. He continued:

“Think if you’re in the Venezuelan administration right now, you know a third of that oil goes corrupt — gangsters are selling that oil. The remaining oil that you control, you’re selling at a huge discount. It’s almost all going to China. This is a boost for Venezuela.”

In other words, until now, the Venezuelan government was forced to sell oil at a significant discount because of unilateral sanctions imposed by American imperialism. Now they are lifting the sanctions so that it can be sold under US supervision, and Venezuela is supposed to thank them for it!

Another piece of news that broke on the same day, Friday 16 January, was the resumption of deportation flights of Venezuelans from the US. These were part of the bilateral agreements brokered by Trump’s envoy, Richard Grenell, in the first part of 2025, and which Washington had suspended in December. A White House adviser quoted by Axios described it this way:

“Between the deportation flights into the country and the oil and mineral flows out that Wright is working on, we’re facing an entirely new dynamic in the Western Hemisphere”

Wright himself said that “The goal is to drive Venezuela’s behavior in a positive direction”. Of course, it is understood that this is referring to a positive direction for Yankee imperialism, and when he talks about ‘driving’, that includes actions such as the military aggression of 3 January.

I was finishing this article when a comrade in Caracas sent me a video of Nicolás Maduro Guerra, the son of the kidnapped president and member of the National Assembly. In a speech, he called for the restoration of relations with the US, the reopening of the embassy, and also... the restoration of relations with Israel! It’s enough to make you cry. You must see it to believe it.

In 2006, President Hugo Chávez expelled the Israeli ambassador from the country in response to the invasion of Lebanon. In 2009, diplomatic relations were formally broken off due to the Israeli aggression against Gaza.

In short, we may soon have the CIA, the US Embassy, the IMF and the Israeli Embassy back in Caracas, sealing the definitive dismantling of Chávez’s Bolivarian revolution.