By Luis Manuel Aguana
When the United States forcibly removed Nicolás Maduro Moros and Cilia Flores from power through a military incursion in the early hours of January 3, 2026, the UN Security Council convened an emergency session, and the US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, declared in his address: “As Secretary Rubio has said, there is no war against Venezuela or its people. We are not occupying a country; this was a police operation” (see France 24 Español, UN Security Council meets after US attack in Venezuela). https://youtu.be/4CwUwRynIZ4?t=79).
Certainly, it was a police operation, but one mounted on the back of a full-blown military intervention. However, the UN did not see it that way. Its Charter establishes in Article 2, paragraph 4, as a guiding principle for all signatory members, that “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations” (see Charter of the United Nations, in https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/chapter-1). Nowhere in that text is it indicated or implied that “police operations”—or operations of another nature involving the military to apprehend criminals—are exempted.
However, for all political and military purposes, since January 3rd, the US has had de facto control over Venezuela. All decisions of the highest levels of government are authorized by the US. Without needing to deploy a single soldier on Venezuelan soil after that date—which was unnecessary given the US's possession of sufficient military technology for remote control—the Venezuelan military forces surrendered to this control. Subsequently, after the earthquakes that devastated the country on June 24, 2026, the US established a military presence in Vargas State (in my opinion, there is no "La Guaira State") with more than 2,000 troops ostensibly for humanitarian aid, thus consolidating its presence and control in the country.
All of this is occurring outside the bounds of any national or international regulations. Since July 3rd, Delcy Eloina Rodríguez Gómez has been exercising executive power in the country without any legal or legitimate basis, not even the authority of the Republic's armed forces, as would be the case with anyone who had staged a coup d'état. If her position was already illegitimate, inherited from the illegitimate Nicolás Maduro Moros, she now remains in office only by force of the United States.
Therefore, we are witnessing a situation of direct intervention by a superpower, the United States—albeit carried out in a different and unconventional way—and by virtue of this position, it has become the country's guardian or regent, demonstrating in practice, by supporting Delcy Rodríguez, that it can install, remove, and appoint rulers in Venezuela, just as it has done in the past in other parts of the world.
Having reached this point, the National Constituent Alliance (ANCO), from civil society, has proposed to the United States that, by virtue of its regency and military power, and considering the grave situation of the country aggravated by the consequences of two earthquakes, it proceed to remove the regime, placing in its stead a Transitional Governing Board, which would assume executive power and the rest of the public powers, for a period that allows for the restructuring of the Venezuelan electoral system, adapting it to the US's three-phase plan, releasing political prisoners, and simultaneously governing and addressing the grave humanitarian crisis that Venezuela is suffering, remaining in power until it hands over command to a legitimate government born of popular sovereignty in elections (see in Spanish, ANCO RATIFIES BEFORE THE NATION AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP ITS PROPOSAL FOR A TRANSITIONAL GOVERNING BOARD - July 14, 2026, in https://ancoficial.blogspot.com/2026/07/comunicado-anco-anco-ratifica-ante-la.html).
According to the latest information received, all signs point to a resumption of negotiations—previously stalled by the earthquakes—between the "deputies" of the defunct 2015 National Assembly (led by Dinorah Figuera) and the regime's illegitimate National Assembly (led by Jorge Rodríguez).
It is worth recalling that, prior to the earthquake tragedy, the MUD/PU coalition decided to bypass María Corina Machado (MCM) and the pledge made in the Panama Manifesto to leave negotiations in her hands. The "unity" faction negotiated directly with the U.S. to secure a return to the negotiating table with the regime—now led by the Rodríguez clan, just as they previously did with Maduro. That earlier process yielded the Barbados Agreement—an accord the regime flagrantly violated by blocking MCM’s candidacy. We must remember that Venezuelans tend to have short political memories.
One might not object to the irregularity of a situation where two parties lacking any legitimacy decide the fate of Venezuelans—after all, in the country's current state, no one else would possess legitimacy either, not even a U.S.-appointed governing junta. The problem lies in the fact that Delcy Rodríguez and her cohorts—given the regime's entire history of criminality—are governing the country indefinitely at the behest of the United States. These criminals CANNOT BE TRUSTED with the billions in aid Venezuela is already receiving—funds that will ultimately end up being managed by the regime's criminal hands—let alone with the recovery of a country they have demonstrably destroyed.
Until those negotiations conclude and the necessary structural changes to the electoral authority are implemented—changes that cannot be limited merely to appointing a few CNE board members—Venezuela will remain on a path of dismantling and destruction, exacerbated by a regime that is illegitimate in every sense of the word. In other words, they will remain there for as long as it takes to carry out the many tasks needed to overhaul the rigged system—which the Castro-Chavista-Madurista regime, led by its architect Jorge Rodríguez, turned the CNE into—and transform it into a decent, reliable, and transparent system featuring manual voting that guarantees genuine elections in the country. This is clearly what is being negotiated, yet without the presence of anyone who truly represents the Venezuelan people.
Now, let’s look at who is doing the negotiating. Right now, the MUD/PU parties are already agreeing on quotas—deciding how many negotiators each party gets out of the ten seats allocated to the opposition. That is the traditional way the Venezuelan opposition approaches a matter like this: dividing up the spoils. Later, there will be quotas for the CNE board members as well. And the questions that arise for me are: Do you really think the results will be different after the regime has had the opposition leadership in its pocket for 27 years? And you know full well what I mean by "in its pocket." Will those negotiators truly and structurally change the electoral system in favor of the citizens—especially when the automated system used up until July 28, 2024, was defended most vigorously by the MUD/PU itself? I have reasonable doubts, having written the same story for 15 years without seeing any change whatsoever.
An approach that favors negotiation with the regime has ALWAYS harmed Venezuelans, because there has always been collusion among these criminals. The regime is highly experienced in this area and is likely laughing up its sleeve at this negotiation between factions—even if we see a Jorge Rodríguez who appears annoyed at being forced to sit down with the 2015 National Assembly.
Some might say that this time will be different because the US will act as the referee. To that argument, I would reply that the US will give its stamp of approval to whatever BOTH sides agree upon. They aren't there to look out for the interests of Venezuelans, but for their own. And whatever emerges from this will provide the hemispheric stability they need—even if Venezuelans end up empty-handed and humiliated.
The mere fact that a negotiation is taking place between the faction that managed Guaidó’s interim government—which never accounted for the millions of dollars provided by the US administration—and the faction that destroyed Venezuela over 27 years, bodes ill for us. Before that, I would a thousand times prefer for the regent to hand-pick a junta—backed by American rifles—to determine a reliable electoral system for Venezuelans as quickly as possible, and for those same rifles to compel the Venezuelan military to respect the people's decision in elections organized by that junta. Given the current state of affairs, this might seem like a midsummer night's dream. But sometimes dreams do come true, and there is no harm in dreaming...
Caracas, July 17, 2026
Blog: TIC’s & Derechos Humanos, https://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/
Email: luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
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