By Bruno Sgarzini – Nov 4, 2026“She could have avoided the show, the airports are there,” Delcy Rodríguez said a day after María Corina Machado returned to Caracas accompanied by a caravan of cars during the peak hour of the weekend. A few days later, Rodríguez herself danced at an event to the song by Dominican rapper Bulin 47, which has gone viral on social media.In a synchronized movement, the acting president of Venezuela moved to the chorus of the song titled “Dame Hombro,” which originated from a freestyle session in Madrid when Bulin 47 entered a nightclub and a street artist dropped a rhyme on him. The “shittification” on social media turned the song viral when the faces of Bulin 47 and the street artist were replaced by global personalities, such as Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, among many others.In Venezuela, Henrique Capriles Radonski, another former opposition leader, went viral when videos of his neighborhood tours were altered by AI to show him dressed as El Chavo, Goku from Dragon Ball Z, Batman, The Joker, and a long list of fictional characters, while he criticized Delcy Rodríguez’s government with a strong exclamation: “What a mess, man!” Julio Coco, an opposition influencer, warned María Corina Machado not to be wary of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service of Venezuela, nor the Venezuelan police, but of the “messes.”Thus, the return of María Corina Machado, with a clean record and without judicial accusations, is set against a backdrop of a permanent campaign on social media. The opposition leader, who called for sanctions and foreign intervention in the country, seems to be looking to reclaim the political center of anti-Chavismo and relaunch street protests to increase pressure for new elections.In several interviews, María Corina Machado has criticized that her party, Vente Venezuela, was not invited to participate in the national dialogue between Chavismo, led by Jorge Rodríguez, president of the current National Assembly, and a sector of the opposition, led by Dinorah Figuera, head of the now defunct parliament won by the opposition in 2015. After visiting the epicenter of the La Guaira earthquakes, she spoke in favor of actively participating in this process under the principles of “memory, justice, reparation, and non-repetition.”According to an anonymous US State Department official, the path of the negotiation is clear: first, the Supreme Court of Justice must be renewed with judges chosen from both the opposition and Chavismo, then the National Electoral Council, in the same way, to make it “impartial,” and finally, Delcy Rodríguez must declare “presidential vacancy” so that presidential elections can be called in six months.“We must exercise our influence as a government over the interim authorities to ensure that this process moves forward responsibly. Our goal is to hold elections in which the losing side would say that the elections were fair, that they simply lost, and that they will move to the opposition,” declared this anonymous official on behalf of Marco Rubio, Donald Trump’s Secretary of State.The situation is unclear because these are announcements for show without specific dates or deadlines. They also have the clear intention of giving “something” to María Corina Machado and the Republican congress members who support her, who ran for election in competitive districts, such as Florida, where the vote of anti-Chavista Venezuelan migrants carries significant weight. However, one thing is clear to most political sectors: Machado’s return accelerates the arrival of “D-Day” in Venezuelan politics, the final showdown between the opposition and Chavismo, which will determine who will lead the current process of economic opening, privatizations, and Venezuela’s definitive shift toward the sphere of US influence.María Corina Machado, with a pyromaniac spirit, has the experience of having generated protests in 2014 with the famous La Salida plan, supporting the 2017 uprising due to a Supreme Court ruling that took over a role of the opposition-majority National Assembly, and backing the proclamation of Juan Guaidó as interim president, among many failed attempts that can be listed like the movies of the character from The Simpsons, the renowned actor Troy McClure.The conflict, in itself, would re-legitimize her leadership in the opposition and allow her to test the mood in the Bolivarian National Armed Force, a Chavista stronghold that has always been elusive for the anti-Chavistas. It is not a question of knowing if this will happen, but rather what pretext will trigger this almost certain show of force. An election, a catastrophe, a citizen protest over wages or infrastructure problems, or some obstacle in the political path laid out by the United States?The Turkish Soap Opera of Venezuela Business DealingsFor Delcy Rodríguez, her brother Jorge, and Diosdado Cabello, the three leaders of Chavismo in the government, the matter is somewhat complex: the sanctions, the conflict, the political repression acknowledged by the state with the amnesty law, the invasion, and the political shift with the United States have left a trail of political costs. Without a visible economic recovery and a substantial improvement in the quality of life for Venezuelans, a potential Chavista presidential candidacy is synonymous with political demise at the polls.The strategy of the three Chavista leaders, focused on stretching political times, seems trapped if it fails to reap some of the benefits from oil and mining investments that are sold as a promise of economic progress in Venezuela. The degree of internal cohesion within the military apparatus after the January 3 invasion, surrounded by suspicions of betrayal, is also unclear. This is why Rodríguez talks about respecting an electoral schedule, outlined in the Constitution, which establishes regional, parliamentary, and finally presidential elections, without a clear deadline, and María Corina Machado says that presidential elections should be held in 2027.The only thing that seems to be beyond question is Venezuela’s carnal relations with the United States. (Diario Red)Translation: Orinoco TribuneOT/SC/CD