Mauricio Claver-Carone in 2021 [EPA Yonhap News]

A private citizen with no official position, who served as a senior advisor (director-level) for the Western Hemisphere in the White House during the first term of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, is now acting as Venezuela's unofficial 'governor' following the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro, the Washington Post (WP) reported on the 25th (local time).

According to the WP, Mauricio Claver-Carone (51), who holds no official position in the current Trump administration, has been relaying the Trump administration's directives to Venezuela under the interim presidency of Delcy Rodríguez and has been involved in selecting investors for the oil industry.

Claver-Carone, a licensed lawyer from Florida, was appointed as the U.S. Special Envoy for Latin America in the early days of the second Trump administration. However, this was a temporary position lasting 130 days, and he currently holds no official position within the U.S. administration, the WP reported.

Despite this, he is considered a "key person" in the Trump administration's relations with Venezuela, enjoying the president's trust to the extent that he is called "President Trump's problem solver for Latin America."

The WP reported that he was deeply involved last fall in the Trump administration's planning process for a series of actions against Maduro, including exile and arrest, and is now contributing to the execution of the U.S. government's plan to utilize Venezuela's oil resources after Maduro's potential ouster.

He is reportedly playing a pivotal role in selecting business operators looking to invest in Venezuela's oil industry, primarily conducting his work via phone from his home and office in South Florida.

Critics point to this as a clear example of the Trump administration's "lack of transparency," where an individual without an official government position effectively holds a significant role in foreign policy.

Claver-Carone also has a history of being unceremoniously dismissed during his term, having been elected as the first U.S. president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in 2020 under President Trump's influence. However, two years later, he was removed from his post due to issues related to "intimate relationships with a subordinate employee."