U.S. Intervention in Venezuela Will Likely Make Things Worse
Maduro deserved justice, but the U.S. military forcibly removing him won't improve things for Venezuela, the United States, or the region
The United States military captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, and while many reactions focus on Maduro himself, that’s mostly beside the point. His government is repressive and illegitimate, having stolen Venezuela’s most recent election in 2024, but there are numerous bad governments in the world. The most important question before forcibly removing a foreign head of state is if it will make things better. On every stated and possible U.S. goal, this will more likely make things worse.
Botching Post-Maduro Venezuela
It’s unclear that removing Maduro means the regime will actually change. A state is a lot more than one person, and the rest of the Venezuelan government appears intact. The general who has led the armed forces since 2014 and deepened the Maduro regime’s control, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, is still there. So is the powerful Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who helped Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, thwart an attempted 2002 coup and subsequently consolidate power. Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, has been sworn in as president, and U.S. President Donald Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to her and “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary.” But Rodríguez has publicly denounced the U.S. attack, and even if that’s for show and she supports U.S. efforts—Rodríguez has been under sanctions by the U.S., so that’s a big “if”—it’s hard to see how she could successfully do what the U.S. wants without setting off a civil conflict with Cabello, Padrino, and others.
Trump announced that the U.S. will “run the country,” except there’s no apparent plan to do that…
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