The US operation to capture President Nicolás Maduro at the weekend and spirit him out of Venezuela for trial in New York left in charge a woman Washington already knew well: vice-president Delcy Rodríguez.
Rodríguez, a canny political operator, was envisaged as head of a transitional government in secret talks that her politician brother, Jorge, led with Washington last year about a post-Maduro future, said two people familiar with the discussions. At that time, the negotiations had involved Maduro going safely into exile.
The Trump administration had been “telegraphing that they were building [this transition] around Delcy for some time now”, said an investor in Venezuela. “They don’t see her being a lapdog, but she was always the one who was most constructive in all the negotiations with the US.”