Dinorahfiguerology, explained:

Remember: The 2015 National Assembly was recognized (2019) as the executive authority in Venezuela by a bunch of countries after Nicolás Maduro held a presidential election in 2018 that violated the Venezuelan constitution—it was called by a parallel entity created to circumvent the real legislature. The National Assembly president (Juan Guaidó) was recognized as caretaker president by over 50 countries. Eventually the whole thing fell apart and the delegate commission was created to be able to keep control of the abovementioned foreign assets when the National Assembly was dissolved.

The creation of the delegated commission, which Figuera leads, took a bunch of constitutional mumbo jumbo, but the truth is that the new chavista National Assembly had similar legitimacy issues to the 2018 election of Maduro—this situation also has been a source of concern to potential investors currently approaching Venezuela who are worried about the nullity of new laws sanctioned by the chavista National Assembly.

This dichotomy between the delegate commission and the chavista National Assembly has been a source of problems regarding the representation of Venezuelan foreign assets (including Citgo).

Fast forward to 2026 (María Corina Machado won the opposition primaries, was banned from running for office, Edmundo González Urrutia ran as her stand in, they won the election, Maduro stole it, they proved Maduro stole it, Trump said that Maduro was a narco and that he was sending people from insane asylums to invade the US, the US moved a bunch of ships to the Caribbean, Maduro called the bluff and danced, Trump had a full house… no sleep ’till Brooklyn, Delcy takes over the local management of Venezuela under T2): Machado held a meeting in Panama with other opposition leaders which pretty much looked like an alignment of oppo forces behind her… a few days later the Machado camp issues a communique stating that she would lead the negotiation process with the Delcy regime. In parallel there were rumors that the the US was supporting a meeting between the delegated commission and the chavista legislature (both sides already were in talks and agreement regarding legal representation to protect assets abroad from creditors).

After the meeting today between Figuera and Rodríguez the US Department of State issued a statement saying: “The U.S. supports this dialogue led by the National Assembly of 2015, the last internationally recognized democratically elected entity in Venezuela, and the Interim Government. This is a first step in what will be a thoughtful process to secure a free and open Venezuelan society.”

Figuera said upon arriving in Caracas that she was there by invitation from the United States (strangely worded and painfully accurate).

At a glance: It seems that the US wants to retain control of the process by pushing Figuera to engage (as lead) in these talks with the regime, but mainly it feels as if the primary objective is to solve the legitimacy problems of the acting National Assembly, which is a concern for foreign investors, and solving the representation problem of the foreign assets. A legislative merger of sorts.

Does this mean Machado is out of the game? While there’s a clear intention from both the Trump administration and the local management to keep her on the sidelines, we still think she has the nuclear codes.