How Trump Fixed On a Maduro Loyalist as Venezuela’s New Leader
特朗普如何锁定一位马杜罗的忠诚派，作为委内瑞拉的新领导人
Nicolás Maduro balked at a gilded exile. U.S. officials then saw a more pliant option in his vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, known for stabilizing Venezuela’s economy.
尼古拉斯·马杜罗拒绝了“镀金式流亡”。随后，美国官员将目光转向他更为“听话”的副总统德尔西·罗德里格斯——她以稳定委内瑞拉经济而闻名。
It was one dance move too many for Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro.
对委内瑞拉总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗来说，多跳了一次舞，成了压垮局势的最后一根稻草。
Mr. Maduro in late December rejected an ultimatum from President Trump to leave office and go into a gilded exile in Turkey, according to several Americans and Venezuelans involved in transition talks.
据多名参与过渡谈判的美国与委内瑞拉人士透露，去年12月下旬，马杜罗拒绝了特朗普总统提出的最后通牒：下台并前往土耳其，过一种“富贵而安全的流亡生活”。
This week he was back onstage, brushing off the latest U.S. escalation — a strike on a dock that the United States said was used for drug trafficking — by bouncing to an electronic beat on state television while his recorded voice repeated in English, “No crazy war.”
本周，他再次出现在公众舞台上，对美国最新一轮升级行动——美方称用于毒品走私的一个码头遭到打击——表现得满不在乎。他在国家电视台上随着电子音乐节奏摇摆，录音里的英文反复播放：“不要疯狂的战争。”
Mr. Maduro’s regular public dancing and other displays of nonchalance in recent weeks helped persuade some on the Trump team that the Venezuelan president was mocking them and trying to call what he believed to be a bluff, according to two of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the confidential discussions.
据两名因无权公开谈论机密讨论而要求匿名的人士称，马杜罗近几周频繁在公开场合跳舞、表现得若无其事，让特朗普团队中的一些人相信，他是在嘲弄美国，试图挑战他们的“虚张声势”。
So the White House decided to follow through on its military threats.
于是，白宫决定将其军事威胁付诸行动。
On Saturday, an elite U.S. military team swooped into Caracas, the capital, in a pre-dawn raid and whisked Mr. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
周六凌晨，一支美国精锐特种部队突袭委内瑞拉首都加拉加斯，将马杜罗及其妻子西莉亚·弗洛雷斯带往纽约，面临毒品走私指控。
Weeks earlier, U.S. officials had already settled on an acceptable candidate to replace Mr. Maduro, at least for the time being: Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who had impressed Trump officials with her management of Venezuela’s crucial oil industry.
数周前，美国官员就已经选定了一个至少在过渡期内可接受的替代人选：副总统德尔西·罗德里格斯。她在管理委内瑞拉关键石油产业方面的表现，给特朗普政府留下了深刻印象。
The people involved in the discussions said intermediaries persuaded the administration that she would protect and champion future American energy investments in the country.
参与讨论的人士表示，中间人说服政府相信，罗德里格斯将保护并推动未来美国在委内瑞拉的能源投资。
“I’ve been watching her career for a long time, so I have some sense of who she is and what she’s about,” said one senior U.S. official.
一名美国高级官员表示：“我关注她的职业生涯已经很久了，所以对她是谁、她在做什么，我是有些了解的。”
“I’m not claiming that she’s the permanent solution to the country’s problems, but she’s certainly someone we think we can work with at a much more professional level than we were able to do with him,” the official added, referring to Mr. Maduro.
这名官员补充说，他并不认为她是解决委内瑞拉问题的永久方案，但她显然是一个美国认为可以比马杜罗更专业地合作的人。
It was an easy choice, the people said. Mr. Trump had never warmed up to the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who had organized a winning presidential campaign in 2024, earning her the Nobel Peace Prize this year.
知情人士称，这是一个“容易的选择”。特朗普从未真正接纳委内瑞拉反对派领袖玛丽亚·科里纳·马查多。她在2024年组织了一场胜选的总统竞选，并因此在今年获得诺贝尔和平奖。
Since Mr. Trump’s re-election, Ms. Machado has gone out of her way to please him, calling him a “champion of freedom,” mimicking his talking points on election fraud in the United States and even dedicating her Peace Prize to him.
自特朗普再度当选以来，马查多竭力讨好他，称其为“自由的捍卫者”，模仿他关于美国选举舞弊的论调，甚至将她的和平奖献给了他。
It was in vain.
但这一切都是徒劳的。
On Saturday, Mr. Trump said he would accept Ms. Rodríguez, saying that Ms. Machado lacked the “respect” needed to govern Venezuela.
周六，特朗普表示他将接受罗德里格斯，称马查多缺乏治理委内瑞拉所需的“威望”。
U.S. officials say that their relationship with Ms. Rodríguez’s interim government will be based on her ability to play by their rules, adding that they reserve the right to take additional military action if she fails to respect America’s interests.
美国官员表示，美方与罗德里格斯临时政府的关系，将取决于她是否按照美国的规则行事；如果她未能尊重美国利益，美方保留进一步采取军事行动的权利。
Mr. Trump declared on Saturday that the United States intended to “run” Venezuela for an unspecified period and reclaim U.S. oil interests.
特朗普周六宣称，美国将“接管”委内瑞拉一段不确定的时间，并重新夺回美国的石油利益。
Ms. Rodríguez, 56, arrives at the job of Venezuela’s interim leader with credentials of an economic troubleshooter who orchestrated the country’s shift from corrupt socialism to similarly corrupt laissez-faire capitalism.
56岁的罗德里格斯以“经济问题修复者”的背景走上委内瑞拉临时领导人岗位，她主导了该国从腐败的社会主义，向同样腐败的自由放任资本主义的转变。
She is the daughter of a Marxist guerrilla who won fame for kidnapping an American businessman.
她是马克思主义游击队员的女儿，其父因绑架一名美国商人而声名大噪。
As Ms. Rodríguez consolidated control over economic policy and eliminated rivals, she built bridges with Venezuela’s economic elites, foreign investors and diplomats.
在巩固对经济政策的控制、清除对手的过程中，罗德里格斯与委内瑞拉经济精英、外国投资者和外交官建立了联系。
For all her technocratic leanings, Ms. Rodríguez has never denounced the brutal repression and corruption sustaining Mr. Maduro’s rule.
尽管她具有技术官僚倾向，罗德里格斯从未谴责支撑马杜罗政权的残酷镇压和腐败。
“History is full of sectors and figures linked to dictators who have, at some point, served as a bridge to stabilize the country and transition to a democratic scenario,” said Juan Francisco García, a former ruling party lawmaker.
前执政党议员胡安·弗朗西斯科·加西亚表示，历史上不乏曾与独裁者有关联的人物，在某个阶段成为稳定国家、推动民主转型的桥梁。
For Trump, democracy is not a concern — it is about money, power, and protecting the homeland from drugs and criminals.
分析人士指出，对特朗普而言，民主并非核心关切，真正重要的是金钱、权力，以及防范毒品与犯罪对美国本土的威胁。