Venezuela floated a plan for Maduro to slowly give up power, but was
rejected by US, AP source says
[October 17, 2025]
By AAMER MADHANI and DAVID KLEPPER
WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan government officials have floated a plan in
which President Nicolás Maduro would eventually leave office, a bid
aimed at easing mounting U.S. pressure on the government in Caracas,
according to a former Trump administration official.
The proposal, which was rejected by the White House, calls for Maduro to
step down from power in three years and hand over authority to his vice
president, Delcy Rodriguez, who would complete Maduro's current six-year
term that runs until January 2031, according to the official who was
briefed on the plan but was not authorized to comment publicly on the
matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Rodriguez would not run for reelection under the plan, the official
said, adding that the White House had rejected the proposal because it
continues to question the legitimacy of Maduro's rule and accuse him of
overseeing a narco-terrorist state.
The revelation of Maduro’s attempts to offer a plan to slowly ease
himself out of power comes amid growing unease in the Venezuelan
leader’s government that President Donald Trump could order military
action to try to oust him.
Aspects of the Venezuelan effort were first reported by the Miami Herald
earlier Thursday. The White House did not respond to a request for
comment.
Speaking at a televised event Thursday, Maduro ridiculed reports that
Rodríguez would be part of a plan to replace him as an attempt “to
divide our people.”
He also mocked Trump’s confirmation Wednesday that the U.S. president
had authorized the CIA to operate in Venezuela.
“Can anyone believe the CIA hasn’t been operating in Venezuela for the
past 60 years?” Maduro said.
Rodríguez described the alleged plan for Maduro to step down as fake
news Thursday.
“FAKE!!” Rodríguez wrote in English on her Telegram account. “More media
that add to the garbage dump of the psychological war against the
Venezuelan people.”
She added that Venezuela’s leadership is united.
Since early September, the U.S. military has carried out a series of
strikes on alleged drug smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea,
including against at least four boats that originated from Venezuela.
Those strikes followed Trump deploying three Aegis guided-missile
destroyers to the waters off Venezuela as part of what the
administration has framed as an effort to combat threats from Latin
American drug cartels.
‘Psyops’ in play as White House tries to ‘create a fracture’ in
Venezuela: expert
Trump on Wednesday took the unorthodox step of confirming to reporters
that he had authorized covert CIA action in Venezuela. He added the
administration “is looking at land” as it considers further strikes in
the region. But he declined to say whether the CIA has authority to take
action specifically against Maduro.
The Republican president's acknowledgement that he had greenlit CIA
action further escalated tensions with the South American nation,
already heightened because of the strikes on boats.
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President Nicolas Maduro flashes victory signs during Indigenous Day
in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Oct 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana
Cubillos)
A commander-in-chief publicly addressing covert CIA operations is
unlikely to be found in any spy manual. But analysts says it may
have spurred a desired effect for the White House: creating even
more unease among Maduro and his allies that their days may be
numbered.
“It's psyops,” said Brian Fonseca, a scholar at Florida
International University who studies Venezuela, using shorthand for
psychological operations. “This is about putting pressure on the
Maduro regime and trying to create a fracture among the country's
political and military elite, and see if you can then get that
fracture into dislodging Maduro from power."
Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term in January despite
credible evidence that he lost last year’s election.
Tom Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, noted
that U.S. opposition to the Maduro government is not new, but
declined to comment on Trump saying he's approved covert CIA
operations in Venezuela.
“It was, and is, however, the policy of the Trump and Biden
Administrations that Maduro is not the legitimate leader of
Venezuela,” Cotton said in a statement.
Trump’s pressure campaign on Venezuela is likely designed to
encourage Venezuela’s military leaders to drop their support for
Maduro, leaving him with few allies and few options but to resign,
said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow at the Brookings
Institution and an expert on drug trafficking and security issues.
That’s likely one reason why Trump took the step of announcing the
CIA’s involvement publicly, she said.
“It’s clearer and clearer by the day that the purpose of these
actions in the Caribbean is to bring down the Maduro regime,” Felbab-Brown
said. “The administration is trying to create enough pressure on the
military to abandon Maduro.”
A small group of top administration officials — including Secretary
of State Marco Rubio, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau
and Trump aide Stephen Miller — have driven the push to carry out
the fatal strikes.
Rubio, dating back to his days in the Senate, has advocated for
taking a harder line on Maduro.
During Trump’s first term, Maduro was indicted on U.S. federal drug
charges, including narcoterrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine.
This year, the Justice Department doubled a reward for information
leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million, accusing him of being
“one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world.”
Trump has focused attention on the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua,
which he claims is serving as a “front” for Maduro, and said members
of the gang were in the first boat targeted last month. No details
on alleged affiliations have been released in the other strikes.
—
AP writers Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations, Jorge Rueda in
Caracas, Venezuela, and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed
reporting.
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