Nicolás Maduro's son, known as "Nicolasito" Maduro Guerra, an economist, has rallied behind Delcy Rodríguez and is reportedly promoting not only that Venezuela comply with Trump's oil demands, but also that she would support a possible meeting with Marco Rubio in the coming weeks. Maduro Guerra established a relationship with the current president's brother, Jorge Rodríguez, when he accompanied him to the failed negotiations with the opposition in Mexico City during Andrés Manuel López Obrador's government. Among the officials appointed by the White House to lead the transition in Venezuela, the most interested in reopening the embassy would be Stephen Miller, a White House political advisor who is focused on achieving greater cohesion with chavismo to accelerate the deportation of Venezuelans and ensure they are received by the new authorities. From Landau's perspective, the embassy will also be key to providing security guarantees that will allow opposition figures to return to Venezuela, always with the horizon, as Marco Rubio has indicated, that any eventual elections will be in the long term and only after consolidating economic agreements. Diplomatic sources who have maintained contacts with Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau confirmed this to the editorial board. Another option is Mauricio Claver-Carone, who was in charge of the region for a few months and currently works at an investment fund in Miami linked to the Trump family. Last Monday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he was "thinking" about reopening the diplomatic mission, which ceased to function in January 2019 after Nicolás Maduro broke bilateral relations. The process will not be entirely quick, as the United States would not return to its embassy located in the southeast of Caracas, in the Colinas de Valle Arriba neighborhood, but would use a new facility for security reasons. As the week progresses, chavismo begins to fall in line with Washington. The State Department estimates it will reopen the U.S. embassy in Caracas in the first half of the year, and special envoy Richard Grenell is the top candidate for the post.
