I don't follow. What are you trying to say? Your question is not relevant to the proposition that the existing regime in Venezuela is still very much in place. I don't know how to say this more clearly than "a regime is not a person (source, the dictionary)".

"Was this attempted regime change?" and "Was the regime change successful?" are two different questions. Given the facts, it's hard to deny that the purpose of this operation was explicitly regime change.

> "Was this attempted regime change?" and "Was the regime change successful?" are two different questions.

What I said was "on-the-day commentary about "regime change" was very much premature".

My apologies, for the avoidance of any doubt I should have said "on-the-day commentary about "regime change" having already occurred successfully was very much premature".

Does "The existing regime in Venezuela is still very much in place" not emphasise that meaning?

Is that clearer to you? I didn't think it needed to be added, but people can be creative with misreadings. This seems like a issue at your end.