Krzysztof Jacek Hinz, Poland’s ambassador to Caracas from 2007 to 2012, said Trump's approach to the Venezuela crisis points to American self-interest.
Trump made the comments in a recent interview with The New York Times, days after a US operation on January 3 removed Venezuela’s longtime authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro.
In the interview, Trump said he expects the United States to "run" Venezuela for years and extract oil from its vast reserves.
He also said the interim government, which includes figures previously loyal to Maduro, is "giving us everything that we feel is necessary," despite what he described as its hostile public statements.
Trump did not directly answer questions about why Washington is treating Venezuela's vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, as the country’s new leader instead of backing opposition leader María Corina Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
He also avoided a clear response on why he has not supported opposition claims that Edmundo González Urrutia won Venezuela’s disputed 2024 presidential election.
Hinz, speaking to Poland's PAP news agency, said Trump’s stance suggests earlier US rhetoric about ending dictatorship masked a narrower agenda.
“It confirms that despite earlier rhetoric, what mattered was the pursuit of narrowly defined American interests,” Hinz said.
He argued that the US intervention and Trump’s remarks can be understood through three motives: securing privileged access to Venezuelan oil, domestic US politics ahead of congressional elections expected later this year, and a security strategy he described as a return to the Monroe Doctrine.
The Monroe Doctrine is a US policy that arose in the 19th century, initially as a result of European colonialism. It asserted American primacy in the Western Hemisphere and warned outside powers against meddling in the region.
Hinz said the language now being used suggests Washington wants the hemisphere “under American control.”
Hinz also said Trump had previously rejected Maduro’s claim to the presidency on the grounds that elections were rigged, so the logical next step, in his view, would be recognizing González Urrutia and starting cooperation with Machado.
Machado, Hinz said, is the central figure of Venezuela’s democratic opposition after years of repression that have pushed many activists into prison or exile.
“She is the only symbol of the Venezuelan opposition,” Hinz said, describing her as “heroic” and resistant to corruption.
He added that Machado has long been seen as pro-American and has previously met US leaders.
Trump, however, suggested she lacks domestic support, a claim Hinz called false.
In Hinz’s assessment, Washington appears to prefer an interim administration that will follow US direction, something he said could not be guaranteed by a fully democratic government.
He also placed Venezuela’s turmoil in broader historical context, pointing to the “Bolivarian revolution,” a political project launched under former president Hugo Chávez that expanded state control over the economy.
Hinz compared some Chávez-era measures, such as sweeping nationalizations, to the harshest periods of communist rule in Poland. He said Maduro’s government became more widely reviled as economic conditions worsened, and described Venezuela as among the most corrupt countries in Latin America.
He also challenged Trump’s assertions about narcotics, saying major trafficking routes run primarily through the Pacific, and that the biggest hubs are Colombia and Mexico.
Venezuela’s military elites, he added, may still be implicated because "the elites are very corrupt."
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP