He doesn't want to get into trouble with the United States
No coração das negociações entre Washington e Caracas, emerge um retrato de um governo em colapso silencioso: Nicolás Maduro ofereceu os recursos naturais da Venezuela em troca de sobrevivência política, enquanto sua própria vice-presidente esboçava planos secretos para sua saída do poder. Os Estados Unidos, porém, recusaram cada proposta e escalaram a pressão, sinalizando que a questão não é mais se Maduro deve partir, mas de que forma isso acontecerá. É o velho drama do poder que se dissolve — não de uma vez, mas em concessões sucessivas, até que não reste mais nada a oferecer.
- Trump revelou publicamente que Maduro colocou sobre a mesa o petróleo e os minerais da Venezuela, admitindo que o líder venezuelano teme um confronto direto com os Estados Unidos.
- Nos bastidores, a vice-presidente Delcy Rodríguez conduzia negociações secretas via Qatar, chegando a propor a própria renúncia de Maduro e seu exílio como moeda de troca.
- Washington rejeitou todas as propostas — a primeira em abril, a segunda em setembro — exigindo não apenas a saída de Maduro, mas uma mudança completa de regime como condição inegociável.
- Trump autorizou operações secretas da CIA em território venezuelano e considera ataques militares terrestres contra cartéis, marcando uma virada da diplomacia para a coerção direta.
- O que se desenha é um governo fraturado por dentro, com sua própria liderança oferecendo o desmonte do regime enquanto Washington avança para uma postura de ação, não de negociação.
Na tarde de sexta-feira, 17 de outubro, Donald Trump falou a jornalistas na Casa Branca durante um encontro com o presidente ucraniano Volodymyr Zelensky e foi direto: Maduro havia oferecido tudo — petróleo, minerais, as riquezas naturais do país. "Ele ofereceu tudo, é verdade", disse Trump. "Sabe por quê? Porque ele não quer se meter em confusão com os Estados Unidos." A declaração confirmava o que o New York Times já havia reportado: Maduro tentara abrir uma porta diplomática com recursos concretos. A porta permaneceu fechada.
Dois dias antes, Trump havia anunciado algo de natureza diferente: a autorização de operações secretas da CIA em território venezuelano e a possibilidade de ataques militares terrestres contra cartéis que operam no país. A linguagem havia mudado — não mais a da negociação, mas a da pressão e da ameaça.
Foi então que o Miami Herald trouxe uma camada ainda mais reveladora. A vice-presidente Delcy Rodríguez, com o conhecimento de Maduro e por meio de intermediários no Qatar, havia apresentado dois planos distintos de transição de governo. O primeiro, em abril, propunha a renúncia de Maduro em troca de acesso americano ao setor de petróleo e mineração. O secretário de Estado Marco Rubio deixou claro que nada menos que uma mudança completa de regime seria aceitável. Proposta rejeitada.
Em setembro, Rodríguez voltou com uma segunda oferta: um governo de transição liderado por ela mesma e por Miguel Rodríguez Torres, um crítico chavista de Maduro exilado na Espanha, com Maduro buscando asilo no Qatar ou na Turquia. Também rejeitada. Rodríguez negou ter articulado qualquer proposta de mudança de regime, mas o relato do Herald sugeria o contrário.
O que essas revelações compõem é o retrato de um governo se desfazendo por dentro — sua liderança oferecendo pedaço por pedaço do patrimônio nacional e até a própria continuidade do regime em troca de sobrevivência. Washington recusou tudo e avança em direção a algo mais direto. A pergunta já não é se Maduro deve sair. É como.
Donald Trump stood in the White House on Friday, October 17th, speaking to reporters while meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and offered a blunt assessment of the Venezuelan government's desperation. Nicolás Maduro, he said, had laid everything on the table—oil, minerals, the country's natural wealth—because the Venezuelan leader understood the cost of antagonizing the United States. "He offered everything, it's true," Trump said. "You know why? Because he doesn't want to get into trouble with the United States."
The claim arrived amid an already heated escalation between Washington and Caracas. The New York Times had reported earlier in the month that Maduro had indeed offered Venezuelan petroleum and mineral resources to Trump in an attempt to resolve the deepening crisis. The offer went nowhere. The diplomatic door, as far as the Americans were concerned, had closed.
Just two days before Trump's remarks, on Wednesday the 15th, he had announced something far more aggressive: he had authorized covert CIA operations inside Venezuelan territory and was actively considering ground-based military strikes against drug cartels operating there. The posture had shifted from negotiation to pressure, from diplomacy to the threat of direct action.
But the story grew more intricate when the Miami Herald revealed, on Thursday the 16th, that Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodríguez had been conducting her own shadow negotiations with Washington. Working through intermediaries in Qatar and with Maduro's knowledge, she and her brother Jorge Rodríguez—who heads Venezuela's National Assembly—had drafted two separate transition plans. Both envisioned a government without Maduro at its helm. Rodríguez herself denied orchestrating any regime-change proposal, yet the Herald's reporting suggested otherwise.
The first proposal arrived in April, four months before American military vessels appeared off Venezuela's coast. It was straightforward: Maduro would resign, and the United States would gain access to Venezuela's oil and mining sectors. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to the reporting, had made clear that anything short of a complete regime change was unacceptable. The White House rejected it.
By September, Rodríguez returned with a second offer. This time, she proposed a transitional government led by herself and Miguel Rodríguez Torres, a Chavista critic of Maduro who had been living in exile in Spain. Under this scenario, Maduro would seek asylum in Qatar or Turkey. Again, the proposal went nowhere. The United States had moved beyond negotiating the terms of Maduro's departure. It was now demanding his removal as a condition for any future relationship.
What emerged from these revelations was a portrait of a government in freefall, its leadership fracturing, offering piece after piece of the national patrimony in exchange for survival. Maduro had dangled the country's resources. His vice president had dangled regime change itself. And Washington, having rejected every overture, had begun preparing for something far more direct. The question was no longer whether the United States wanted Maduro gone—that had been answered. The question now was how.
Notable Quotes
He offered everything, it's true. You know why? Because he doesn't want to get into trouble with the United States.— Donald Trump, October 17, 2025
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why would Maduro offer everything if he thought he could refuse?
Because he understood the alternative. Trump had already authorized CIA operations on Venezuelan soil. The military ships were already there. At that point, offering resources wasn't weakness—it was the only card left to play.
But Trump rejected the offers anyway. So what was the point of making them?
That's the trap. Maduro was negotiating from a position where he had nothing to negotiate with. He could offer oil, minerals, access to the economy—but what he couldn't offer was his own removal. And that's what Washington wanted all along.
So Delcy Rodríguez's proposals were different?
They were an attempt to split the difference. She was saying: you can have regime change, just not through invasion. We'll do it ourselves, internally, and you get a friendly government in return. It was a way to preserve some Venezuelan autonomy while giving the US what it demanded.
And that was rejected too?
Completely. Rubio made it clear—anything less than total regime change was off the table. By that point, the US wasn't negotiating. It was issuing demands.
What does that tell you about where this is heading?
That the diplomatic phase is over. When a government starts offering its natural resources and its own leadership's exile, and that still isn't enough, you're no longer in a negotiation. You're watching the countdown to something much more direct.