Sawt Falasteen - Nicolas Maduro, locked in US prison, fades from Venezuelan life

But just months after his capture in a stunning raid by US special forces, the interim government is gradually erasing Maduro's visage from public life.

Maduro was taken into custody along with his wife Cilia Flores in a January 3 lightning raid in Caracas and flown to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

And despite an initial backlash among Venezuelans, fervor for the former leader of the leftist political movement known as Chavismo has died down.

As much can be seen in the slogan chosen by interim president Delcy Rodriguez's government to mark her first 100 days in office: "The beginning of a new chapter."

Under heavy pressure from Washington, and even the threat of more US military intervention if she does cooperate, Rodriguez has focused on pushing through hydrocarbon and mining reforms that are favorable to US interests, as well as granting amnesty to political prisoners and releasing them.

Maduro's ties to the Venezuelan government are also weakening, as Rodriguez has dismissed several of the ministers he had appointed.

"We have seen how the figure of former president Nicolas Maduro has been gradually retired from public spaces," said Eduardo Valero Castro, a political science professor at the Central University of Venezuela.

He added that there is "a new intentionality in Venezuelan politics in line with the alliance schemes that exist on the geopolitical level between Venezuela and the United States."

- Loyalty questioned -

Rodriguez insists that she was loyal to Maduro "until the last second." It is her way of responding publicly to critics who accuse her of betraying her former boss and aligning with Washington.

"Those who, out of pettiness, out of irrationality, say what they say about me, I'm going to tell them something: 'It's irrelevant compared to what it means to defend Venezuela," Rodriguez said at an event in April.

Former figures in the Chavismo movement, however, have expressed misgivings with the reforms pushed by Rodriguez, all the while US President Donald Trump boasts about his relationship with Caracas.

"I communicated this internally, that we have become a lowly protectorate of the United States," wrote former pro-Maduro lawmaker Mario Silva.

"No pressure can justify collaborating with an aggressor," Silva wrote in an open letter addressed to Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela's powerful interior minister and a close ally of Maduro.

Cabello was recently confronted by a guest on his weekly television show over the "weak campaign" for Maduro.

"Our goal from the very beginning, our main objective, is for Cilia and Nicolas to come back," Cabello replied.

- 'Talk about him more' -

Silva's critiques were met with strong reactions from his fellow Chavismo members, who considered them inappropriate, highlighting the internal fractures within the party.

"We want people to talk about him more, because that is not happening, he is not being taken into account," Ana Maria Pinto, 64, told AFP during a march calling for an end to US sanctions on Venezuela.

Alquimedes Rios, a member of a community council affiliated with Chavismo, believes that there has been a "fight" to demand the return of Maduro, who is imprisoned in New York.

"Our interim president Delcy Rodriguez continues negotiating, continues talking in order for our president Nicolas Maduro to return," he told AFP.

"Have they not done enough? That could be, but we have been fighting to make that possible," he continued.

For Juan Garcia, a 21-year-old fisherman from the coastal state of Sucre, Rodriguez faces a "very complex situation."

"They're acting through diplomacy, because we're not going to bring him back through force," he said.

According to political scientist Jesus Castillo-Molleda, Maduro does not represent stability for Chavismo.

The movement "is forced to accept this reality" of working with Washington in order to survive, he said, adding: "if the economy improves under Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro will be forgotten more quickly."

B.AbuZeid--SF-PST