A Venezuelan Economist on What Trump Gets Wrong About Venezuela

Nicolás Maduro may be out, but Venezuela’s Chavista regime still holds power. Meanwhile, the opposition leader and Nobel Prize winner María Corina Machado is fighting to remain relevant. She’s scheduled to meet with President Trump at the White House on Thursday.Francisco Rodríguez, a senior research fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, joins the Opinion editor Dan Wakin to assess the state of the opposition, Machado’s prospects and how Donald Trump factors into Venezuela’s uncertain future.Thoughts? Email us at [email protected] the full transcript here: https://nytimes.com/2026/01/14/opinion/venezuela-oil-power-trump.htmlThis episode of “The Opinions” was produced by Derek Arthur. It was edited by Alison Bruzek and Kaari Pitkin. Mixing by Carole Sabouraud. Original music by Sonia Herrero, Pat McCusker and Carole Sabouraud. Fact-checking by Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta and Kristina Samulewski. The director of Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.