CARACAS – Growing divisions are emerging within Venezuela’s Chavista movement over acting President Delcy Rodríguez’s rapidly changing relationship with the United States, with several prominent figures associated with the late Hugo Chávez openly criticizing the government’s rapprochement with President Donald Trump.
The criticism follows Rodríguez’s recent meeting with Trump in New York and a broader shift toward cooperation between Caracas and Washington, particularly in the oil sector. Rodríguez has defended the new relationship as necessary for Venezuela’s economic recovery.
But for some longtime supporters of Chávez’s “Bolivarian Revolution,” the transformation has become increasingly difficult to accept.
Among the critics is Mario Silva, a prominent Chavista television personality who for years was one of the government’s most vocal defenders. His state television program has been cancelled, and Silva has increasingly used YouTube to criticize the direction being taken by Rodríguez’s administration.
Former Vice President Elías Jaua and former Caracas Metropolitan Mayor Juan Barreto have also voiced concerns about the government’s new political direction, according to reporting by The Guardian.
The criticism exposes a potentially important fault line within Chavismo. For decades, opposition to Washington and particularly to U.S. influence over Venezuela’s oil industry formed a central part of the movement’s political identity.
Rodríguez, however, has adopted a more pragmatic approach toward the United States as Venezuela attempts to revive its economy and oil production following years of political confrontation and economic crisis.
The change became particularly visible during the United Nations General Assembly in September. Rodríguez met Trump in New York in what she later described as a “historic” encounter. She subsequently told the UN that Venezuela would hold elections, although she did not announce a date, and thanked Trump for his willingness to restore diplomatic relations and cooperation.
The emerging internal criticism suggests that Rodríguez now faces a delicate balancing act. Greater cooperation with Washington could bring investment, oil-sector opportunities and economic relief, but moving too far from the ideological foundations established under Chávez risks alienating parts of the political movement that has governed Venezuela for more than two decades.
Some Chavista figures appear willing to accept the new relationship as a pragmatic necessity. Others increasingly view it as an abandonment of the movement’s principles.
That debate could become more significant if the rapprochement with Washington fails to produce visible improvements in living conditions for Venezuelans.
For Curaçao and the wider Caribbean, the political shift in Caracas is particularly relevant because changes in Venezuela’s oil industry, international relations and economic recovery could eventually have regional consequences.