The future of the Venezuelan people

By Charles Murray
Guest columnist

After capturing and deposing former dictator/president Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Jan. 3, what effect has this had on the Venezuelan people? Has life improved for the Venezuelan people? Are things the same – or worse?
    
Initially, Venezuelans the world over cheered in the streets upon hearing that their former women-and-children sex trafficking, drug dealing, terrorist-supporting leader had been arrested and extradited to the United States. And most of the people in country, were cheering the forcible departure of the criminal cabal. So how are things going for the Latin-American country now?

Delcy Rodriguez took office as president of Venezuela on Jan. 5. She came from a political background, and was the former minister of economy and finance and president of foreign affairs.   

Rodriguez has stated: “Madurio’s arrest is, “an act of terrorism,” and “The government of Venezuela is in charge of our country; there is no foreign agent running Venezuela.” Since then, many Venezuelans who cheered Maduro’s extradition have been arrested, tortured and jailed, according to many sources who, fearing similar persecution, prefer to remain anonymous. 
    
According to Al Jazeera, Juan Guaído, who fled Venezuela in 2023, condemned Rodriguez as “an acting dictator,” and explained that the current period is “a phase of transition,” which will only be complete, “once the rule of law has been reinstalled.” 
    
Antonio Maria Delgado, the Miami Herald reporter on Latin-American affairs, said: "President Rodriguez is trying to comply with the U.S.," adding that Washington has “a great deal of leverage” over her that, “goes beyond the threat of: “if you don’t do as we say, you’re gonna be next.”  

He further opined that this compliance is shown by the recent release of political prisoners. But despite this, many protesters who support Maduro’s removal are still being arrested – talk about mixed messages.

Even with international involvement and political shifts, when asked if life for ordinary Venezuelans has improved, Delgado responded flatly: “The answer is no.” He further informed us that armed collectives and paramilitary groups continue to operate at will. “There’s a risk of you being grabbed in the streets and taken to prison and being tortured,” he stated, referring to supporters of Maduro’s removal.
    
Under the Maduro regime, the economy shrank 75 to 80%, and continuous violence helped drive “8 million people to leave the country,” he added, which is nearly a quarter of the population. Imagine what it would look like if 25% of U.S. citizens exited our country?

Caracas reporter Noris Argotte Soto told Al Jazeera that the situation in Venezuela’s capital continues to be tense, as most denizens are staying inside their homes, 
    
I vacationed in Venezuela in early 1996 with my ex-girlfriend, Kelly, specifically on the island of Margarita. Re-instated 1970s dictator Rafael Caldera was president then, (if you’re thinking that Venezuela has had a high rate of “dictator” presidents, you are correct), and after exiting the machine-gun toting, police-filled airport, we settled into our hotel, the Laguna Mar, which, as the name implies, was situated behind a lagoon and the ocean. They were adding a huge gym and spa to the resort, which was designed to specifically attract American and European tourists.  
     
We had a good time, even though my girlfriend’s hat was stolen, and ominous killer bees flew around us at our magnificent breakfast buffet (which was definitely disturbing), and I decided to do some “surreptitious” reporting, since I had been warned that foreign journalists need to be careful  how they word questions in South America, since they have been known to be jailed for asking the wrong questions. 
    
So, acting like an uninformed tourist, I asked a young waiter what he thought of President Caldera. His eyes became angry, and he said: “He is a very bad man, Señor. The people here don’t have enough jobs, and he punishes his people if they speak out.”  

Only seconds after he left us, I saw two other waiters approach him with hostility, yelling at him, and telling him to “shut up about our president.” He was escorted off the dining floor, and maybe 10 minutes later, the same two men came to my girlfriend and I and said, “We apologize for what that man said about our president, Señor. He is from Columbia, and he knows nothing about him.”  

Of course, living and working in Venezuela as he did, and being a native Spanish speaker, he no doubt did know what he was talking about. We never saw him again for the rest of our five or six days there. When I asked the same waiters what happened to him, they said, coldly, “He went away.” When I asked where, they simply repeated, “away.” It felt chilling.
    
Asking cab drivers and bartenders (two of your best sources of information in any country) the same question about what they thought about Caldera, I repeatedly saw their faces become stony with a strong hint of fear, and most said, after a telling pause: “He is a very good man, Señor,” and avoided speaking with me anymore.
    
It is my hope that the Trump administration will do justice for the Venezuelan people – not just focus on their massive oil reserves and the business it will bring the United States. While I applaud Maduro’s removal, and the economic benefits it will bring us, the people are still being oppressed under Maduro puppet, Rodriguez, as both anonymous and non-anonymous Venezuelans have attested. Those people believed in us, believed we would change their government and create a real road to the kind of freedom we enjoy in the United States – one they have never known, but dream of in earnest.  

They are human beings, and it is wrong to only focus on “business.” We have a moral obligation to improve the peoples’ lives, and we have that capability. I call on President Trump to do the right thing, and remove new dictator Rodriguez and replace her with peace-prize winner, Maria Corina Machado. Though I can’t attest to whether Machado would accept the presidency, I believe it is well worth it to try and persuade her. We won’t know unless we try.