Although Venezuela’s problems began with the election of the authoritarian left-wing revolutionary Hugo Chávez in 1998, 2017 was the year that the country’s problems became too catastrophic for even the world’s most ardent socialists to defend.
Venezuela’s right of center opposition praised President Donald Trump’s efforts to exert pressure on the country’s socialist dictatorship while urging further sanctions against the regime.
“America for the Americans” was a fundamental piece of the foreign policy of the United States in relation to Latin America since President James Monroe announced it in 1823, when his country lacked the resources and military to enforce it vis-à-vis imperial European powers.
Just a few months ago, amid a worsening humanitarian crisis and the prospect of an illegal power grab, Venezuela’s anti-government protests had reached a tipping point. In April, the opposition coalition announced daily protests against the socialist government led by Nicolás Maduro, leading to street
Diego Arria, once Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations and a former UN Security Council president, returned to the global organization Monday to condemn the “unprecedented” situation his nation is experiencing, under a tyranny he defined as run by “drug traffickers and criminals.”
Diego Arria – a former Venezuelan diplomat and UN Security Council president now dedicated to the struggle against socialist Chavismo in his native country – sees removing dictator Nicolás Maduro from power as only a first step in saving Venezuela from decades of corruption and decay.
The international community should not only act against Venezuela’s socialist dictatorship as a matter of principle, but to protect the world from a growing web of criminal influence to which Venezuela belongs – alongside Iran, Syria, Cuba, and North Korea.