A democratic Venezuela will be a better security partner for the United States in combatting the flow of drugs and human trafficking. It will no longer be a partner of likeminded regimes in Havana, Managua, Moscow, Beijing, or Tehran. It will be a better place for American companies to do business, with rule of law and respect for property rights that will help fix an economy that Maduro, and his predecessor Hugo Chavez, destroyed.
With the Trump administration’s removal of Nicolas Maduro from power, Venezuela has an opportunity to return to democracy for the first time in almost a quarter century. As debate unfolds about what just transpired, there should be agreement that the skill and bravery of our armed forces and intelligence community removed a dictator who caused the suffering which the Venezuelan people have endured for many years.
Venezuelans were deprived of their most recent opportunity in 2024, when Maduro stole the country’s presidential election, which democratic opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez clearly won. Now, the Venezuelan people and the international community have the chance to unite behind a return to democracy involving Gonzalez and Nobel Peace Prize winner Marina Corina Machado, who in fact is very popular among Venezuelans, as well as other democracy leaders.
Venezuelans clearly made a choice for democracy in 2024, and have been waiting for a long time to have their rights restored. The leaders of the democracy movement, not Maduro’s chosen vice president, should be afforded the opportunity to lead the way.
Supporting the return of democratically elected leaders is in the best interest of the United States and the region. Once those leaders reemerge, full restoration of democracy in Venezuela will take time, and there will be many bumps along the way. But a democratic Venezuela will no longer pose a threat to the United States or its neighbors.
A democratic Venezuela will be a better security partner for the United States in combatting the flow of drugs and human trafficking. It will no longer be a partner of likeminded regimes in Havana, Managua, Moscow, Beijing, or Tehran. It will be a better place for American companies to do business, with rule of law and respect for property rights that will help fix an economy that Maduro, and his predecessor Hugo Chavez, destroyed.
And a return to democracy in Venezuela is likely to reduce the flow of migrants from the country. In fact, many Venezuelans who fled their homeland are now likely to return if they see democracy and prosperity in Venezuela’s future. Democracies, after all, tend to attract people; authoritarian regimes tend to drive them out.
Neither Moscow nor Beijing should get any ideas that they can try this in Kyiv or Taipei. The leaders in both Ukraine and Taiwan are legitimate and democratically elected.
Many people will want to focus on what just happened, and there should be a healthy debate about it. But just as important is what comes next. Restoration of democracy in Venezuela should be led by Venezuelans with American support. The long-awaited opportunity for democracy to return there should be a cause that unites Venezuelans and Americans, and indeed all democracy-supporting people. It certainly is a cause the Bush Institute has supported for a long time.
