A classified CIA assessment presented to U.S. President Donald Trump concluded senior Maduro loyalists, including Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, were best positioned to maintain stability if the Venezuelan leader lost power, two sources briefed on the matter said on Monday.
The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed an exclusive report by the Wall Street Journal.
The assessment was one reason why Trump decided to back Nicolas Maduro's vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, instead of opposition leader María Corina Machado, the sources said.
The White House declined to confirm the report.
“President Trump is routinely briefed on domestic political dynamics all over the world. The president and his national security team are making realistic decisions to finally ensure Venezuela aligns with the interests of the United States, and becomes a better country for the Venezuelan people," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in response to a query.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said Monday she plans to return home "as soon as possible," and slammed the interim president in Caracas.
In her first public comments since a social media post over the weekend, when the US military forcibly removed president Nicolas Maduro from power, the Nobel Peace Prize winner vowed to return to her country.
"I'm planning to go back to Venezuela as soon as possible," Machado told broadcaster Sean Hannity on Fox News, speaking from an undisclosed location.
Machado openly rejected the country's interim president Delcy Rodriguez, saying she "is one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption, narcotrafficking."
Rodriguez, who has signalled her willingness to cooperate with Washington, was Venezuela's vice president under Maduro.
Machado said Rodriguez is "rejected" by the Venezuelan people, and voters were on the opposition's side.
"In free and fair elections, we will win by over 90% of the votes, I have no doubt about it," Machado said.
Machado also vowed to "turn Venezuela into the energy hub of the Americas" and "dismantle all these criminal structures" that have harmed her countrymen, promising to "bring millions of Venezuelans that have been forced to flee our country back hom
