It’s Time To Support the Venezuelan People’s Aspirations for Freedom

The collapsing, criminal dictatorship that presides over Venezuela is a threat to American interests and to the entire Western Hemisphere. After four years of appeasement under President Biden, President Trump is sending a clear and necessary message to the Maduro regime that its days of acting with impunity are over.

First under Hugo Chavez and now under Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela has gone from the second wealthiest country in Latin America to a sinkhole of poverty, corruption, and narco terrorism. Over the past 20 years, the country’s democratic institutions have been systematically destroyed; the regime has sided with American adversaries, including China and Iran, to undermine our core interests; and has become a narco state that brings deadly drugs into our country and fuels global transnational crime.

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The consequences have fallen first and foremost on the Venezuelan people, who have been fleeing the country in record numbers (contributing to both the migrant crisis in the U.S. and across South America). Despite lacking an independent media and the freedom of speech or assembly, the Venezuelan people voted for the democratic opposition in 2019 and 2024, only to have the elections stolen from them. Lacking any popular legitimacy, Maduro maintains his hold on power through systematic corruption and fear.

Like all dictatorships, the Venezuelan dictatorship will eventually collapse under the weight of its own dysfunction. The current situation is dangerous enough – but without the right people poised to step in to rebuild, the crisis could become even more toxic, with wide-ranging consequences for the entire Western Hemisphere.

Genuine democratic reform, while by no means easy to achieve, is the only way that Venezuela will set itself up for success in the future and become a source of prosperity and partnership rather than violence and instability. President Trump is right to put pressure on Maduro to step aside; we should back that up with fulsome public and private support for Venezuela’s democratic opposition, led by Maria Corina Machado.

This approach is consistent with the policies we pursued during my tenure as Secretary of State, when we initiated a campaign to isolate the regime, cut off key sources of revenue, and back Venezuela’s pro-democracy movement. When Maduro stole the 2019 presidential election from pro-democracy opposition candidate Juan Guaido, we took the bold step of recognizing Guaido as the rightful president of Venezuela and led the international effort to get other countries to join us.

Although our efforts came close to bringing the regime to its knees, it ultimately wasn’t enough – and four years of appeasement under Joe Biden threw Maduro a lifeline by removing or easing sanctions and providing only toothless support to the opposition movement.

That rotten status quo cannot continue. Through the prudent application of hard power, maximum pressure, and robust support for Venezuela’s pro-democracy opposition, America can secure our own interests in the Western Hemisphere and enable the Venezuelan people to take back control of their country.