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Competing articles in the WaPo and WSJ paint a grim, if all-so-familiar picture of how Donald Trump’s “regime change” project in Venezuela is evolving. The core of the argument is that Mauricio Claver Carone, a sidekick of Marco Rubio without official capacity in the Trump administration, is basically calling the shots. Jessica Bedoya, Claver Carone’s girlfriend, is credited to have a played a pivotal role in choosing Matthieu Pigasse as Venezuela’s debt negotiator in chief. This site is calling BS on all that.
First, Claver Carone has had wet dreams about turning Venezuela into Chavismo 3.0 since Trump’s first presidency. His version of a palatable system was to orchestrate a (failed) coup to oust Nicolas Maduro with the following lead actors: Raul Gorrin, Leopoldo Lopez, Juan Guaido, Maikel Moreno, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, and Christopher Figuera. There were others behind the main characters, über corrupt Alejandro Betancourt being one of them.
We won’t bore readers explaining how the plan, hatched by a man now described as having "intimate knowledge of players and policy in Washington and Caracas”, did not have the slightest chance. However, it is necessary to briefly sketch what each player was due to accomplish: Gorrin was to present off-ramp possibilities to Maduro & Cilia; Moreno was to provide the legal scaffold to sustain incoming Lopez & Guaido; Padrino Lopez and Figuera would bring military muscle and intelligence. A private jet over the Atlantic wasn’t only bringing Betancourt, but plenty of restructuring plans and VCs to make Venezuela great again.
Claver Carone got his ass handed to him of course. A pilgrimage to the Inter-American Development Bank -from where he was fired upon revelations of nepotism and an inappropriate affair with Bedoya- followed. Trump 2.0 brought the pair through the back door, arguably to have another go at establishing Chavismo 3.0 after removal of Maduro early this year.
This site has followed Venezuela very closely way longer than Claver Carone and all the other experts with “intimate knowledge of players” commenting or formulating policy these days. We’ve known of Claver Carone since he was a blogger, posting stuff like "DO’S AND DON’TS OF U.S. POLICY TOWARDS CUBA” where he argued:
The most successful transitions to democracy in modern history have been the result of bottom-to-top change. Democratic transitions from Eastern Europe to South Africa, where grassroots movements were grounded on international recognition and support, stand in stark contrast to many of those in the former Soviet Union, where a top-down approach simply resulted in a new version of authoritarianism and repression. [bold added]
Claver Carone’s policy proposals were correct back in 2009, but in 2026 he fancies himself as a Little Havana version of Jared Kushner. Having a former CIA analyst as a partner, instead of the President’s daughter, can work in places where a "top-down approach simply resulted in a new version of authoritarianism and repression”, like Venezuela under Chavismo 3.0.
Missing from the “experts analysis” tying Claver Carone and Bedoya with Matthieu Pigasse are Temir Porras and Max Arvelaiz, the latter having co-produced Melania. That’s the connection folks. When Claver Carone was dreaming about his blog having an impact on U.S. policy towards Cuba, Pigasse was already in situ in Caracas, cooking all kinds of corrupt deals. Making it as if he’s someone who just entered Delcy’s orbit is ignorant and historically inaccurate.
The real story, in our opinion, is that Chavismo 3.0 is nothing more than White House-sanctioned corruption. Venezuelans are going through the insufferable indignity of, ultimately, having their future in the hands of the most corrupt U.S. administration in history, partnering with the most corrupt and incompetent regime ever seen in the Western Hemisphere. It is a tragedy far beyond Greek mythological epics, because it combines the very worst of all worlds. In Claver Carone’s own words, a “top-down approach” has been imposed by force by the world’s most powerful country, which is ruled by an unaccountable administration, to reinforce and strengthen a kakocracy determined to remain in power.
Given that this site is about studying, researching and posting about corruption, an unavoidable question emerges: what bid did Delcy organised to have chum Matthieu negotiate Venezuela’s debt? For it needs to be in black and white: $150 billion, $200 billion or whatever the exact amount will end up being, this is the largest single deal Venezuela will ever do and it already has corruption all over its genesis.
Venezuelans cannot count on Delcy’s propriety, and even less on Donald Trump’s or his chosen fixers. Pigasse is there because Delcy wanted him and provided the necessary bona fides, only someone like him could bag this and in 2025 probably neither Bedoya nor Claver Carone knew of him. Actually, given amounts involved, it is surprising that Kushner doesn't have a prominent role somewhere. Competing interests never stood a chance. Claver Carone may be running point on some stuff, but on such potentially lucrative issue we do not believe he’ll have the last word. Same applies to Rubio. This is more JD Vance or Trump’s Inc.
Still, it just couldn't be worse: Venezuela went from 40 years of Acción Democrática and COPEI, to Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, to the unimaginably destructive power of Rafael Ramirez, to Maduro & Cilia with the ever keen help of Cuba’s dictators and Alex Saab, to drug trafficking capos and their cartels running the economy, taxes and PDVSA, to Delcy and Jorge Rodriguez’s unending hatred, resentment and corruption sanctioned by Donald Trump’s White House and unleashed on us all, so totally unequipped Capitol Hill Cubans can use our country as Petri dish for their never-successfully-tried nation-building formulas.
Before January 3rd we thought we had the most corrupt thugs at the top, yet Venezuela demonstrates yet again that worse can always come. Once upon a time, Claver Carone wrote:
U.S. policy towards Cuba should remain focused on supporting the Cuban people in their struggle for fundamental freedoms and democratic change. It’s imperative for U.S. policymakers and diplomats to stress the unconditional release of all Cuban political prisoners; the recognition and respect for the human, civil and political rights of the Cuban people; and the development of a pathway towards internationally supervised free and democratic elections.
No chance of that happening in Venezuela anytime soon. The current opposition leadership is well on its way to becoming a Guaido 2.0 movement, just as quiet, harmless, compliant, disoriented and subservient as Washington and chavismo likes it. And Venezuelans don’t have to worry about China, Russia or Cuba anymore: the new leadership suffices to carry on with the snatching and looting of our country’s resources. The only change is who gives out the shovels.
