The Venezuelan narco-state poses a clear threat to America’s security and prosperity. Two decades of socialism have devastated this once wealthy country, spreading instability and transnational crime across the Western Hemisphere. After four years of reconciliation under President Joe Biden, we cannot afford to ignore the problem any longer.
President Donald Trump is sending a clear and necessary message to the Maduro regime that the days of destabilizing the Western Hemisphere with impunity are over. Trump warns drug traffickers around the world. Let’s be clear: Venezuelan narco-terrorists and their drug shipments pose a threat to the American people. Trump has both the right and the responsibility to use military force to stop them.
In many ways, Trump’s approach is a continuation of the tough policies we pursued during my tenure as Secretary of State under the first Trump administration. We recognized the dangers posed to our interests by this drug trafficking dictatorship, linked to America’s enemies such as Iran, Cuba, China and Russia, and we were determined to do what was necessary to protect the American people.
That’s why we launched a pressure campaign to isolate the regime and raise costs for Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro by crippling the country’s ability to export its biggest sources of income – cutting oil exports by 70% in just a few years. Trump’s Justice Department indicted Maduro and his cronies on charges of narco-terrorism and drug trafficking, and the administration expanded its counter-narcotics operations targeting drug routes from Venezuela.
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Venezuelan Army soldiers march with military vehicles during a parade as part of the Independence Day celebrations on Fuerte Tiuna in Caracas, Venezuela, on July 5, 2023. (Pedro Rances Mattey/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
We also firmly committed our support to the Venezuelan democratic opposition: when Maduro stole the 2019 presidential election from pro-democracy opposition candidate Juan Guaidó, we took the bold step to recognize Guaidó as Venezuela’s rightful president and led diplomatic efforts to urge other countries to follow suit.
Unfortunately, this policy was abandoned by the Biden administration and U.S. deterrence promptly collapsed. Sanctions were lifted or eased, giving the regime a lifeline and emboldening Maduro to steal another election in 2024. Alex Saab – the alleged bagman of Maduro and Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei, allegedly responsible for moving billions in money, gold and weapons between Venezuela and Iran – was released by the Biden administration as part of a prisoner swap in an act of reconciliation that handed the Maduro regime a major victory.
Meanwhile, the ongoing disintegration of the Venezuelan economy, combined with Biden’s de facto open borders policy, brought hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants to the United States, including notorious gangs like Tren de Aragua. Maduro even took advantage of the flow of migrants to extract concessions from the US and secure his grip on power.
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Fortunately, Trump is starting to get things back on track. In addition to targeted attacks on drug traffickers and a military buildup in the Caribbean, the new administration has revoked oil concessions granted under Biden, imposed secondary tariffs on countries buying oil from Venezuela, doubled the reward for Maduro’s arrest as leader of the Cartel de los Soles and gone after the Tren de Aragua. As his Venezuela strategy continues to coalesce around a more confrontational approach, a few key principles should guide us.
The United States must make it clear that Maduro is illegitimate and support the democratic opposition movement led by Maria Corina Machado. Maduro has stayed in power by stealing not one, but two elections, and has no popular legitimacy whatsoever. Genuine democratic reforms, while certainly not easy to achieve, are the only way Venezuela can set itself up for future success and become a source of prosperity and partnership rather than violence and instability.
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Moreover, we must understand that there is no adjustment possible with the Maduro regime, which threatens core American interests by destabilizing the entire region and exporting transnational crime to our shores. Accordingly, our strategy must use every available pressure point – including sanctions and kinetic actions where necessary – to limit the Venezuelan government’s ability to conduct business as usual.
Finally, we must remember that America’s adversaries would like nothing more than to see the United States withdraw from Latin America and elsewhere. While the collapse of Venezuela is causing even committed allies like China and Russia to take a step back, any situation in which the Maduro regime can stabilize will invite the re-engagement of the world’s worst actors and create an unacceptable threat very close to our borders.
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Sanctions were lifted or eased, giving the regime a lifeline and emboldening Maduro to steal another election in 2024.
As President Trump’s new National Security Strategy argues, it is long past time that we reaffirm and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to protect American interests in the Western Hemisphere and prevent our adversaries from gaining the ability to project power in America.
The collapse of Venezuela is yet another example of the inevitable endpoint of socialism: autocracy, economic disaster and increasing instability. The longer the Maduro regime remains in power, the worse the situation will become for Venezuelans, neighboring countries in Latin America and for the entire Western Hemisphere. Our strategy must reflect that understanding and enable the administration to use every available tool to protect and advance America’s interests.
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