President Donald Trump is relying heavily on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to lead Venezuela affairs during the transition after the capture of Nicolas Maduro, with US media and political circles calling Rubio the "Viceroy of Venezuela," according to The Washington Post.
Citing several US officials familiar with the matter, the report said Rubio played a central role in planning the operation to seize Maduro. With no clear alternative leader yet, Trump has asked Rubio to help "run" Venezuela, including handling oil asset allocation, sanctions policy, election arrangements and security issues.
The Post described this as Rubio's most challenging political role to date. Trump told reporters the US would help run Venezuela "for a period of time," saying Rubio had contacted Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who was "willing to work with us to make Venezuela great again." However, Rodríguez later publicly rejected that, saying Venezuela "will never again be a colony of any empire."
The report noted Rubio has long advocated regime change in Venezuela, influenced by his political stance and family background—his parents immigrated from Cuba before the revolution. He is fluent in Spanish and has close ties with Latin American leaders and Venezuelan opposition figures, making him a key operator for Trump in the region.
But scholars and former officials warned the US may underestimate the difficulty of governing Venezuela. Some analysts said without large-scale ground troops, real control is hard. Democratic lawmakers criticized Rubio for previously telling Congress the operation was not "regime change," accusing the administration of misleading Congress.
While capturing Maduro is seen as a major diplomatic win for Rubio's camp, reshaping Venezuela without long-term occupation or regional turmoil will be the biggest test for the Trump administration and Rubio, the Post concluded.
