President Donald Trump's Venezuela policy is being shaped in part by a former official with no current government position, raising questions about oversight and conflicts of interest, according to a new report.
According to The Washington Post, Mauricio Claver-Carone, who was briefly the State Department's special envoy for Latin America, is a central figure in Washington's dealings with Venezuela after the Jan. 3 removal of Nicolás Maduro.
The outlet reported that Claver-Carone joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio on a call with interim President Delcy Rodríguez hours after U.S. forces took Maduro into custody.
Claver-Carone told the Post he acts as a "connector," not a decision-maker. "I don't make decisions," he said. "That's obviously for the president and the secretary." A State Department spokesperson also told the newspaper that Claver-Carone "does not currently have an official role" and is not issuing instructions on behalf of the U.S. government.
But the outlet noted that more than 10 current and former U.S. officials and others familiar with the relationship described him as relaying messages between Washington and Caracas and helping shape which investors gain access as Venezuela's oil industry reopens. One former U.S. official told the newspaper that "for a guy who has no role in government, he plays an oversize role."
The scrutiny comes as Venezuela enters a new and highly sensitive phase. Maduro was charged by the U.S. Justice Department in 2020 with narco-terrorism, corruption, and drug trafficking offenses. Prosecutors alleged his government worked with the FARC and the Cártel de Los Soles to move cocaine through Venezuela toward the United States. He has been in prison since being captured.
Maduro has also been accused of running a "corrupt, illegitimate government" tied to drug trafficking, while also noting that a U.S. intelligence assessment found no coordination between Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan government.
Claver-Carone has long been a hard-line voice on Venezuela and Cuba. Trump announced in December 2024 that he would appoint Claver-Carone as special envoy for Latin America, saying Claver-Carone knew "the dire threats" linked to migration and fentanyl and would work to protect U.S. interests in the region. He didn't stay in the role long.
He was also mired in controversy during his tenure at the Inter-American Development Bank, when the body's board of directors unanimously recommended firing Claver-Carone after an independent ethics investigation found misconduct. Claver-Carone denied wrongdoing at the time.
