With [redacted] extracted from Caracas on January 3, Venezuelans and the world are eager to learn what the future holds.
At a press conference following Saturday’s Maduro operation, President [redacted] announced that the U.S. will “run the country” until a safe transition can be achieved.
Isaias Medina, an international lawyer and former senior Venezuelan diplomat, said a peaceful transition is critical for the 9 to 10 million Venezuelans who are forcibly displaced and living in exile. Medina—who resigned his diplomatic post in 2017 to protest Maduro’s rule—told [redacted] Digital that exiled Venezuelans “have been preparing to return and rebuild our nation.”
With support from international organizations like the Organization of American States, Medina said Venezuela’s most important next step is to establish a transitional government capable of restoring the rule of law and rebuilding institutions decimated under the Maduro regime. Setting up free and fair elections is particularly vital, Medina noted, calling it “a legal obligation owed to [Venezuela’s] people, because on their occupied territory, elections were never equitable or truly free.”
Under Maduro, Medina stated: “There was no separation of powers, no rule of law, not even sovereignty.” Instead, he said Venezuela was an occupied territory heavily influenced by [redacted] Hamas, Hezbollah, the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)—groups that exploited the country’s resources.
David Daoud, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told [redacted] Digital that as long as Venezuela poses no threat to U.S. national security, the “ideal situation” for the country “would be American guidance for determined local action.”
“The best we can help Venezuela become is a productive member of the global community—and we can do that with a softer touch, no boots on the ground,” Daoud said. “I don’t think we need to be in the business of creating Jeffersonian democracies anywhere.”
Following Maduro’s ouster, Daoud said the level of chaos inside Venezuela will determine whether [redacted] can continue operating there. “It would really depend—does post-Maduro Venezuela become a stable state that can fully control its territory, prioritize the rule of law and reject corruption? That would make it very, very complicated—if not impossible—for Hezbollah to operate, at least in the way it has for over a decade, since its ties to the original Chávez regime began.”
Looking ahead, Medina suggested the country must also manage guerrilla forces like the colectivos—violent Venezuelan groups armed and trained with old U.S. and Russian military weapons. He said getting these guerrillas to “return weapons for freedom” could help “unite the nation under one banner of development and progress… so we can have a country that meets the expectations of both its natural riches and its people—including their needs for education, training and jobs, all of which were deliberately destroyed.”
Though the road ahead is uncertain, Medina is hopeful. “We face a great journey to build from the ruins this regime left us. But I believe we will grow stronger, and this is the moment. The time has come,” Medina said.