Reclaiming Venezuela for Her People Benefits the United States

Commentary

Venezuela’s authoritarian socialist regime has left a narco-dictatorship and metastasized throughout the region. Encroachment into the United States, especially via the Tren de Aragua paramilitary network, has brought the issue to a head. Revelations regarding electoral meddling have also made clear that the Chavistas are not content to sit at home and rest on their dictatorial laurels.

The prospect of U.S. intervention has divided Americans who advocate for limited government. There is little appetite for what many perceive to be a discretionary war, and this would be a more costly endeavor than the Panama incursion of 1989–1990.

Enemies Within the Gates

However, the problem is no longer over there; it is here. Without staunch resistance, the Chavista regime—aka the Soles Cartel and its minions, proxies, and benefactors—will march forward and entrench itself in the United States. That includes entrenching itself within U.S. intelligence agencies and the foreign-policy apparatus, as the Cubans have done for decades.

Yes, the situation compels regime change, but not in the way it has been maligned. Amid the accusatory language and retail politics, there has been an absence of plain reality regarding the situation’s severity. While diplomatic solutions have failed so far, and military action may be necessary, any approach must consider long-term stability.

If there is one lesson from the past quarter-century in Venezuela, it is that peaceful protests, targeted sanctions, and diplomatic negotiations are laughable to the regime. Unless confronted kinetically, it will dig in its heels and remain in power.

The Imperialism Red Herring

The way observers throughout the Western Hemisphere have stood idly by and watched as Venezuela has been systematically plundered is a vergüenza—a profound disgrace. Posturing about nonintervention might make one feel moral, but it does nothing to halt the violation. Neighbors such as Brazil and Colombia could have taken the initiative earlier, but now they have neither the will nor the wherewithal.

After so much time, only U.S. leadership can bring Venezuelans any semblance of democracy. The opposition have made many valiant attempts to reclaim their country, but they are up against a powerful, sophisticated, and vicious alliance the likes of which the world has never seen.

Ecuador, Panama, and the Dominican Republic can provide coalition support. They, along with Paraguay, have declared the Soles Cartel a terrorist organization. However, only U.S. firepower can get the job done. Even then, it will not be a walk in the park, given the decentralized, determined, messy, and transnational enemy.

Those who recognize this and want to take action face accusations of imperialism or colonialism and of violating national sovereignty. It is difficult to take these pejoratives seriously, and kowtowing to them is a fool’s errand. However, they resonate with self-conscious Americans who do not wish to be seen as domineering or intruding in other people’s territories.

While some fear this would be seen as imperialism, the regime’s openness to foreign influence from hostile powers challenges traditional notions of sovereignty. Otherwise, it would be on a mission to oust Colombian, Chinese, Cuban, Iranian, and Russian agents from Venezuela. These bad actors violate Venezuelan sovereignty with abandon and have filled the power vacuum left by U.S. disinterest.

Venezuela lost sovereignty many years ago. Those stuck there are ruled as much from Havana as from Caracas. Thousands of Cuban agents remain in and profit from Venezuela, assisting with citizen surveillance, restructuring the military, and replicating the island’s tyranny. Fidel Castro worked with Hugo Chávez for years before his election in 1998, and their socialist dream (read: nightmare) has come true.

In addition to the Cubans, dictator Nicolás Maduro partners with the Chinese Communist Party, Bolivarian Alliance nations such as Nicaragua, Colombia’s National Liberation Army, FARC-dissident guerrillas, and even Islamic terrorists. There are also Cuban-trained paramilitary colectivos that intimidate anyone who gets out of line.

Working with the democratic opposition, therefore, is restoring Venezuelan sovereignty.

The Right Option, Not the Easy Option

Leaving Venezuela to fester is the easy option. However, the price will be paid at a later date and at a high rate of interest. The longer this goes on, the more difficult the cleanup will be. All manner of problems—from human trafficking and electoral dark money to socialist alliances and Latin America’s law of the jungle—will plague the United States. Between 20 percent and 25 percent of Venezuelans have fled since 1999, and the exodus will continue in the absence of decisive action.

Turning a blind eye to Cuba spawned the Chavista regime, and you can expect more aligned nations to come. Honduras appears to have avoided that fate this year, by rejecting the Libre party, but Cuba and Venezuela are cultivating allies, with their sights set on Guatemala.

There have been opportune times for U.S. engagement, especially in 2002 and the mid-2010s. The United States left those on the table, perhaps because leftists dominated the State Department. Meanwhile, the Venezuelan diaspora has continued to swell and put down roots elsewhere. With each year that passes, fewer members of the aristocracy are likely to return. Their support will be crucial to establishing the necessary institutions for a free society.

The right option, albeit difficult for paleo-conservatives to accept, is clear: use limited military engagement to restore Venezuelan governance. Ideally, this will proceed from an open debate and constitutional declaration of war from Congress. The endeavor would benefit Venezuelans immeasurably, as it would benefit Americans and Venezuela’s neighbors.

In Line With National Security Strategy

The good news is that there is an overwhelming democratic mandate for Edmundo González and María Corina Machado. That means there will not be grassroots resistance to U.S. support for their leadership. Rather, the resistance will come from the Soles Cartel, the transnational crime network disguised as a state.

The path forward fits well into the recently released U.S. National Security Strategy, which cites a reinvigorated Monroe Doctrine from the 19th century. That has two tenets for the Americas: (1) keeping out hostile foreign powers, chiefly the Chinese Communist Party, and (2) asserting U.S. leadership and values. The document explains: “Not every country, region, issue, or cause—however worthy—can be the focus of American strategy. The purpose of foreign policy is the protection of core national interests.”

Cuban exile scholar José Azel further explains that U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy is U.S.-centric: “It will not be a foreign policy that will put fear in the minds of oppressive regimes as some had hoped. Dictatorships offend our values, but not necessarily our national interests. However, the equation changes when U.S. national interests are threatened.”

Venezuela’s problems have already undermined U.S. interests. Restoring democracy in Venezuela is not a utopian nation-building exercise on the other side of the world. Rather, it is a win-win endeavor pivotal to establishing Pax Americana in the Western Hemisphere, to pushing back against neofeudalism and making the region stable for trade and economic development.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.