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Venezuela's acting leader defies Washington to secure domestic power base

Delcy Rodríguez's calculated rebuke reveals the structural contradictions facing U.S.-backed transition governments

Venezuela's acting leader defies Washington to secure domestic power base
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​Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela's acting president, has publicly declared she had "enough of orders from Washington." The timing of her statement was precise: it came hours after her government released over 100 political prisoners, a key demand from the White House that backed her interim leadership following the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro. The apparent contradiction reveals not confusion, but calculated statecraft by a leader navigating the fundamental paradox of externally-sponsored transitions.

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