In Venezuela, anger rises against the Washington-backed regime

Introduction: five months after Maduro, the disillusionment

A transition that was supposed to change everything

Five months after the capture of Nicolás Maduro by American forces, Venezuela was supposed to enter a new era. Instead, public anger is growing against interim president Delcy Rodríguez, accused of consolidating power rather than organizing a genuine democratic transition, according to The Economist.

This disillusionment adds to an already severe humanitarian crisis, as the country still struggles to recover from a series of devastating earthquakes in recent weeks, worsening an already explosive social climate. For a population that had pinned its hopes on a genuine break from the past, watching familiar faces reassemble around the levers of power feels like a betrayal layered on top of a tragedy.

A power seen as illegitimate by part of the population

Many Venezuelans believe that Delcy Rodríguez, a former vice president of the Chavista regime, represents nothing more than a disguised continuation of the old power structure rather than a genuine democratic break, despite the logistical and political backing Washington has given this transition.

Maduro's capture, a historic turning point

A military operation with lasting consequences

The American operation that led to Nicolás Maduro's capture in January marked a historic turning point in relations between Washington and Caracas, ending more than two decades of Chavista power, according to CNN. But the political aftermath of that operation has proven far more complex than expected.

The vacuum left by the regime's fall was quickly filled by figures from the old state apparatus, including Delcy Rodríguez, rather than by a clearly identified democratic opposition force legitimized through free elections. Analysts who study transitions of power note that this pattern, where old insiders simply reshuffle titles, has doomed similar experiments elsewhere in the region.

The Supreme Court's contested role

The Venezuelan Supreme Court, whose independence remains widely questioned by international observers, ordered that Delcy Rodríguez become interim president, a decision that fuels accusations of institutional manipulation benefiting the old ruling elite.

The earthquake crisis making everything worse

A human toll that keeps climbing

The twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela have pushed the death toll to 2,595 and more than 12,400 injured, according to the Anadolu agency. About 38,500 people remain missing, a figure down from the 60,000 initially reported, but still staggering for a country already on its knees.

This natural disaster, occurring amid an institutional vacuum, exposed the glaring limits of the Venezuelan state apparatus's emergency response capacity, unable to quickly mobilize the resources needed to rescue its own population. Entire neighborhoods were left waiting days for basic supplies, a delay that turned a natural catastrophe into a preventable tragedy in the eyes of many survivors.

International aid with strings attached

The Trump administration has pledged $150 million in humanitarian aid, while more than 900 American troops have been deployed on Venezuelan soil and 800 more in Puerto Rico and Curaçao, according to CNBC. A presence that, for some Venezuelans, looks more like an occupation than simple humanitarian relief.

An interim president under fire

A crisis response deemed inadequate

At her first press conference since taking power, Delcy Rodríguez tried to reassure the population about the handling of the earthquake crisis, but her explanations convinced neither the families of victims nor the humanitarian organizations on the ground, according to CNBC.

Criticism centers on the slow mobilization of relief efforts in the first hours after the earthquakes, a delay that, according to several accounts gathered by the international press, may have cost additional lives. Local officials have offered few concrete answers about why coordination between national and regional authorities broke down so completely at the moment it mattered most.

Accusations of authoritarian consolidation

Beyond the handling of the natural disaster, Delcy Rodríguez faces broader accusations of consolidating power with no clear electoral timeline, a drift that dangerously echoes the practices of the old Chavista regime she is supposed to have helped bring down.

The health emergency looming over the country

A health system already at breaking point

European civil protection experts have warned of an imminent major health crisis in Venezuela, with the country's health system already weakened by years of economic mismanagement even before the earthquakes struck, according to Euronews.

The lack of functioning medical infrastructure in the hardest-hit areas is significantly complicating care for the injured, while the risk of disease spreading due to unsanitary conditions grows by the day in displacement camps. Aid workers describe makeshift clinics running short of even the most basic medication, forcing impossible triage decisions on exhausted staff.

A population left to fend for itself

On the ground, many Venezuelans report having to organize themselves, outside any functioning state structure, to distribute aid and search for missing people, illustrating the scale of the vacuum left by institutions that are both overwhelmed and discredited.

Washington faces its responsibilities

A risky political bet

By backing the transition led by Delcy Rodríguez, the Trump administration is taking a risky political bet, wagering on short-term stability rather than a deeper democratic break that might have proven longer and more uncertain to achieve.

This pragmatic choice, while it avoids an immediate security vacuum in a strategically important country for the region, risks fueling lasting public distrust of the United States, seen by some as sponsoring a substitute power rather than a genuine democracy. That perception, once entrenched, could haunt American diplomacy in Latin America for years, regardless of how the current crisis is eventually resolved.

A test for American credibility in the region

This Venezuelan case is an important test of Washington's credibility in Latin America, a region where past American interventions have often left lasting marks of distrust, sometimes exploited by rival powers such as China or Russia.

The Venezuelan diaspora watches with concern

Millions in exile for years

More than seven million Venezuelans have fled their country over the past decade, scattered mainly across Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and the United States, forming one of the largest displacement crises in the world. Many of them anxiously follow every political development back home, hoping one day to return under dignified conditions.

For this diaspora, the chaotic handling of the current transition represents yet another disappointment, fueling fears that Venezuela will remain trapped in a cycle of poor governance, regardless of which political camp holds power in Caracas. Many who had already packed their bags in anticipation of a democratic opening now say they are putting those plans indefinitely on hold.

Hopes of return pushed back

Several diaspora organizations have publicly expressed disappointment over the lack of a clear electoral timeline, arguing that this prolonged uncertainty is delaying the return plans of thousands of families ready to go home if minimal democratic guarantees were put in place.

The murky role of the old Chavista elites

A continuity that worries observers

Many regional analysts are troubled to see so many figures from the old Chavista apparatus still holding key positions in the transition administration, a continuity that largely contradicts the official narrative of democratic rupture that Washington has pushed since Maduro's capture.

This persistent presence of the old guard fuels suspicions of a backroom deal between certain American officials and factions of the fallen regime, aimed solely at securing minimal short-term stability.

The weight of regional economic interests

Venezuela's substantial oil reserves continue to weigh heavily on the strategic calculations of every power involved in this matter, a factor that partly explains American caution about a more decisive break from the old structures of Chavista power.

Conclusion: a transition that needs rebuilding

The gap between promises and reality

Five months after Maduro's fall, the gap between promises of democratic transition and the reality experienced by Venezuelans keeps widening, feeding an anger that, if not addressed quickly, could further destabilize a country already on its knees.

The handling of the earthquake crisis, which exposed deep cracks in the current state apparatus, only adds to the urgency of a clear political overhaul, with a credible electoral timeline monitored by the international community.

What Venezuela is still waiting for

The Venezuelan people, worn down by decades of poor governance and then by a major natural disaster, now expect concrete action rather than new promises, whether they come from Caracas or Washington.

A clear electoral timeline, monitored by independent international observers, remains the only credible path to restoring the trust of a population that has already paid an immense price for its regained freedom. Without that concrete gesture, Washington's promise of democratic rupture risks remaining a dead letter in the eyes of millions of exhausted Venezuelans.

By Maxime Marquette, columnist

Columnist's transparency note

My acknowledged biases

I hold a pro-Western editorial line, convinced that an American intervention that ended more than two decades of Chavista power remains preferable to the status quo, while maintaining a critical eye when that same intervention leads to disappointing political management.

I do not have direct access to the ground in Venezuela and rely exclusively on the reporting and public statements from the sources cited below.

My method

This article was written using international news articles published in late June and early July 2026. No information has been invented or extrapolated beyond what the cited sources report.

Sources

Primary sources

The Economist — Venezuelans furious with the American-backed regime, July 2, 2026

Anadolu Agency — Venezuela earthquake death toll rises to 2,595, July 2, 2026

Secondary sources

CNN — Delcy Rodríguez and the Venezuelan transition, June 14, 2026

BBC — Venezuela after Maduro's capture

Euronews — Major health crisis looms over Venezuela, July 2, 2026

CNBC — Venezuela earthquake death toll keeps rising, July 3, 2026