Maduro must go!

Venezuela should honor the will of its people—and it’s time for the free world to demand that Maduro steps down, argues VOC’s Dr. Patterson in World Magazine.

As Dr. Patterson writes, “just when many Americans thought they could take a break from electioneering and focus on the Olympic spirit, they were surprised to see images of massive pro-democracy rallies disputing Venezuela’s recent corrupt election. What is going on?

In sum, this was perhaps the most consequential election in South America this year. Indeed, Venezuela may well be the second most important election in 2024 for the entire Western Hemisphere and one that is directly tied to U.S. national security and political interests.

Venezuela was once the fourth-richest country in the world and for many years was among the top 10 oil exporters to the United States. It was also one of the most stable democracies in Latin America. But in the past two and a half decades, it has been plundered by the hard-line socialist presidencies of Hugo Chávez and his hand-picked successor, Nicolás Maduro. 

To give you a sense of just how corrupt and derelict the last quarter century of socialist rule has been, here are two data points.

First, Venezuela’s notorious El Helicoide prison, one of the largest correctional complexes in the Western Hemisphere, was created as a sprawling, luxury shopping mall and convention center. It was no longer needed as a commercial venture when it could best be used to house Maduro’s legions of detractors, political enemies, and other freedom-loving citizens.

Second, Venezuela, which by some estimates holds the largest petroleum reserves in the world, has become a net importer of petroleum. It cannot even meet its own people’s needs as it decimated its energy sector by inefficient bureaucracy, corruption, and poor management.

Sunday’s election is seen as a high-stakes drama in Venezuela and for the entire region. In the previous presidential election in 2018, Maduro used the threat of force to bar the winner from taking office. A new special report on electoral corruption documents how the run-up to the 2024 election has been marked by duplicity, chicanery, and bullying as opposition candidates, one after the other, were disbarred from running for office. As reported on The World and Everything in It on Tuesday, the opposition coalesced around the dynamic and courageous María Corina Machado, who won 93 percent of the opposition votes in the presidential primary. But Maduro illicitly barred her from running in the general election.

Read the full article in World Magazine.

Dr. Eric Patterson is President and CEO of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.