Trump Says Venezuela Is ‘a Happy Country.’ Its People Disagree.
Delcy Rodríguez, the interim president of Venezuela, during a meeting with American officials in Caracas in April.
President Trump says Venezuela, under U.S. oversight, has “never made the money” it is making now. But new oil revenue isn’t helping ordinary Venezuelans, and anger seems to be mounting.
By Anatoly Kurmanaev
President Trump and Venezuela’s new leaders have portrayed their unlikely alliance as an unfettered success. Mr. Trump said last week that Venezuela “has become a happy country” because of all the money from new trade with United States...
But beneath the narrative of success, Mr. Trump’s Venezuelan partners face growing difficulties meeting the clashing expectations of the Venezuelan people, foreign investors and U.S. officials...
U.S. oversight has started to address the worst of the country’s chronic corruption under Mr. Maduro, but it has not yet made a difference for average Venezuelans. For most, life remains just as hard as it was before the U.S. attack.
Annual inflation, though falling, remains the world’s highest at 524 percent. Wages have increased, but remain at penury levels...
“Let them come here for three months without bodyguards and then go to a supermarket to see if this has improved,’’ said Álvaro Espinoza, 56, a jeweler in Los Teques, a commuter town outside the capital, Caracas, referring to American officials. “It’s all a lie.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/23/world/americas/venezuela-oil-delcy-rodriguez-trump.html