Each morning in London, Delcy Rodriguez, who serves as Nicolás Maduro’s vice president, engaged in a peculiar routine. She would take her toothpaste and denounce it as a ‘capitalist product,’ a practice recounted by former U.S. diplomat Brett Bruen. This anecdote highlights the staunch ideology of the woman now left by President Donald Trump to oversee Venezuela’s transition following Maduro’s removal. Bruen, who once worked at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, describes Rodríguez as a fervent supporter of Chávez and a committed socialist. He warns that the current U.S. administration’s strategy risks transforming a military victory into a political debacle. Bruen criticizes Trump’s declaration that the U.S. will ‘run Venezuela’ as strategically misguided. However, the toothpaste saga is just the tip of a much larger conflict.

Trump’s decision to bypass Venezuela’s democratic opposition leaders, María Corina Machado and Edmundo González, has caused a significant rift with key Republicans and the Venezuelan-American community, many of whom see Machado as the rightful leader of Venezuela. Some of Trump’s staunchest supporters are now openly expressing their dissent. Representative Carlos Gimenez, a strong Trump advocate and influential figure within Miami’s exile community, told the Daily Mail that Trump is mistaken regarding Machado. ‘The community is unified in their support for her,’ Gimenez affirmed. While he commended Trump for the ‘boldness’ of the operation itself, he acknowledged a disconnect about the future leadership of Venezuela. ‘The President is my president… but my views and his differ,’ Gimenez remarked.

Congressman Gimenez confirmed he had a conversation with Machado shortly after Maduro’s capture. He described her as ‘statesman-like’ during their discussion, noting that she didn’t speculate on why Trump isn’t supporting her. Gimenez emphasized Machado’s undeniable legitimacy, pointing out her endorsement of Edmundo González in recent elections—an election González won with a 70 percent majority—due to her being unlawfully barred from running. ‘If elections were held tomorrow, I would confidently bet on Maria Corina Machado as the winner,’ Gimenez asserted. The congressman aims to persuade Trump to reconsider, questioning who might be misinforming the President about Machado. ‘I have no idea who’s feeding him this… I just believe it’s incorrect,’ he added.

Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar (pictured), another Cuban representing South Florida, echoes the same sentiment, telling the Daily Mail that Machado is the ‘moral force’ of Venezuela’s democratic movement. ‘I am hopeful that we will take the necessary steps to ensure that either, the 2024 election results are respected, or, that a new election will take place where María Corina is on the ballot,’ Salazar explained. But a diplomat very familiar with South America who asked to remain anonymous told the Daily Mail that Machado can be ‘difficult.’ ‘She’s completely stalwart… She believes what she believes. If you share her views, then you are a pretty smart guy, and if you differ in any respect, then she didn’t have a chance for you,’ a diplomat very familiar with South America told the Daily Mail.

Gimenez told the Daily Mail he was among the first to learn of the raid, waking to a 4.30am call back from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and an emphatic message: ‘We got him.’ But with Trump declaring he will ‘run’ the country and some of his own party pushing back on who should lead it, what some diplomats call the ‘sugar high’ of the operation is fading fast. As Bruen warns: ‘We’ve seen this movie before in Iraq and certainly in Afghanistan.’