Trump’s unfinished business in Venezuela

Delcy Rodríguez has been an obedient acting president for the United States, but her government’s failure to respond quickly to the devastating June earthquakes completely discredited her in the eyes of most Venezuelans.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, acts as U.S. President Donald Trump’s, centre, viceroy for Venezuela, where he is slow-walking the return to free elections while he works on finding someone to do America’s bidding, writes Gwynne Dyer.Photograph courtesy of the White House/Molly Riley

Opinion

BY GWYNNE DYER

August 6, 2026

LONDON, U.K.—Experienced imperialists understand that you can’t just take over a country and expect it to run itself. It takes time and work to turn it into an obedient and profitable colony, and two months is not enough. United States President Donald Trump moved on to ...

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