Opinion Pieces

Last month, at least 46 protestors were injured during clashes with security forces in Venezuela, following a call by Juan Guaidó for the people to rise up and the military to revolt against socialist Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

This confrontation comes at a time when the country is a living hell for too many Venezuelans. Inflation hit nearly one million percent in 2018. Once considered the richest country in Latin America, families now struggle to procure necessities for survival, like food and medicine. More than three million Venezuelans have left their country, making it “one of the largest forced displacements in the Western Hemisphere,” according to BBC.

Now, Guaidó is not just some rabble-rouser speaking on behalf of his oppressed fellow citizens. America, along with most of Europe and the Western Hemisphere, recognize Guaidó as the legitimate interim President of Venezuela -- because that’s what the Venezuelan Constitution says he is. In 2018, Maduro “won” reelection in what no impartial observer would call a free or fair election. The Venezuelan high court, called the Supreme Tribunal, ruled from exile that Maduro exceeded his authority by staying in office past the end of his term. Under their Constitution, a vacant presidency is filled by the leader of the National Assembly (like our Speaker of the House), which is the duly elected Juan Guaidó. This is no coup: this is the rule of law trying to function in a nation where an authoritarian is desperately attempting to cling to power.

Since the founding of America, a central tenet of our successful democracy is the shared recognition and respect for the rule of law. This ensures all men and women are equal before the government. Where there is no rule of law, authoritarians thrive. The recent violence in Venezuela underscores the broader battle at stake for the future of the region. What is on the line for us here in the United States is not just practical – the strategic influence of adversaries, and U.S. interests like national security and border security – but also ideological. We in the Americas will have to answer the question: is the Western Hemisphere going to be dominated by dictators and the crippling ideologies of socialism, or are we going to stand for freedom, democracy, and human rights?

To understand what’s at stake, just look at who is left backing Maduro: authoritarians in Russia, China, Cuba, Syria, Iran, and Turkey. If there is a vacuum of U.S. leadership, these are the players who are eager to fill that void and assert their own influence and agendas: our adversaries. Thankfully, the Trump Administration is forcefully communicating the United States’ position: Russia, Cuba, and China need to stop propping up this socialist regime and allow the Venezuelan people to take their government, their freedom, and their future back.

How does this impact the U.S.? A region dominated by Russia and China is a direct national security concern when it is in our own backyard. We also have border security interests at stake in the region. Leaving home and resettling, either legally or illegally, is rarely refugees’ and migrants’ first choice. More often, it is due to a corrupt or conflict-ridden regime, like that in Venezuela, that makes life unbearable or unsustainable at home. So, working to stabilize the 21^st century’s massive migration crisis and protecting our borders must include supporting stable, functioning democracies in the region. That’s part of a secure United States, and secure Americas.

Ultimately though, what is happening in Venezuela is bigger than regional influence or even our own national security interest. It is a battle of ideas: between socialism and democracy, dictatorship and freedom, consolidated power and constitutional human rights.

Venezuela’s economic and political collapse is a bitterly fresh reminder of how socialism’s old, empty promises always end up punishing the very people it professes to serve. But this does not have to be the end of the story. Venezuela has the potential to become a “shining city on a hill” for the entire region -- returning to prosperity, restoring their Constitution, and keeping creeping authoritarianism at bay in the Western Hemisphere.

That is why the world is watching Venezuela.

The outcome of these events holds implications much further reaching than the borders of this one country. We must allow the Venezuelan people to take back their government, their liberty, and their lives, without the added burden of Russia and China propping up the current socialist regime. We must continue to clearly articulate to the people of Venezuela, of Central and South America, and to the rest of the world that the future of our hemisphere lies with democracy, freedom, and the rule of law. And, we will unequivocally stand behind those who want to take hold of that future and make it their own.