Are we up to the task?

I rejoice with the Venezuelan people for being freed from their tyrant’s foot. Maduro was a vicious dictator who attacked his own people and, along with Chavez, drove the Venezuelan economy into the ground. Good riddance.

Venezuelans have hope. Hope for their kids, their future, and themselves. Rejoice in this hope.

The country and people deserve a government that will govern for Venezuelans. A government where the economic spoils of their resources go to Venezuelans, where their dignity and rights are preserved, and where they have a voice over the forces that control them.

Trump claims that the United States will govern Venezuela. By United States, he means him and his inner circle. Will he govern with the interests of Venezuelans as his priority?

I’m worried.

He has said that the governance and rebuilding will not cost the United States anything because the United States will be reimbursed through oil revenue. After US oil companies and the US government get their cut, what is left over for Venezuelans?¹

I’m worried.

Do we think a man, Trump, who flouts democracy in his own country and attempted to stay in power after losing an election - like Maduro successfully did last year - will work for democracy in Venezuela?

I’m worried.

Do we think a man who has no patience for human rights when they hinder his cruel policies will ensure the new Venezuelan government protects the human rights of Venezuelans?

I’m worried.

What about when instilling democracy and protecting human rights obstructs oil and cash flows to American business interests?

I’m worried.

Throughout the 20th century, the United States, its citizens and governments, showed little concern for the people of Latin America during interventions. This held even with presidents who were saints compared to Trump. Will this time be different?

I’m worried.

Look at how Trump has governed his own people. Now give him unconstrained power, without constitutional and democratic checks.

I’m worried.

I’m reminded of King Leopold II, who ruled Belgium from 1865 to 1909. At home, he was a respected and benevolent ruler. In his personal fiefdom of the Congo, however, he ruled with ruthless and oppressive precision.

Here are Claude’s reasons for Leopold’s contrasting sides:

• Legal Structure: At home, Leopold operated under constitutional constraints, a parliament, and press scrutiny. The Congo had none of these.²
• Distance and invisibility: Few Europeans witnessed or heard about Leopold’s brutality in the Congo.³
• Economic Incentive: The rubber boom made exploitation profitable to Leopold.⁴
• Racism: European ideology at the time, the late 1800s and early 1900s, viewed Africans as subhuman, making atrocities easier to rationalize.⁵

This doesn’t help my worry.

No doubt, Leopold is an extreme example. But reality does not have to be this extreme to still cause worry. Even a “30% Leopold” is unacceptable. Plus, Trump isn’t even considered a benevolent ruler in his own country.

Thus, I’m worried.

Venezuela’s future is uncertain. But there is one certainty: Trump will not govern Venezuela for the benefit of Venezuelans. He has already said as much and we should take him at his word.

This is where we come in. And my ‘we’ is concrete: voters in the United States like you and me.

Despite news to the contrary, democracy is not dead in the United States. The proof? Name a single election over the past 10 years where the rightful winner did not take their seat on time?

For good or ill, we, American voters, are now the voice of the Venezuelan people. We are their only voice.

We, you and me, must advocate for the Venezuelan people.

We, you and me, must vote with them in mind.

We, you and me, must give a damn about them. We must because Trump won’t.

We, you and me, must demand that the United States governs Venezuela in the interest of Venezuelans and not Americans. Saying “Well, they are better off than under Maduro” is unacceptable. Our moral standards must be higher.

We must demand nothing short of a Venezuela First approach to governing Venezuela. Anything less is a moral failure for us all, you and me.

Our votes matter. Our voices matter. Venezuelans are relying on us.

Are we up to the task? Mid-terms are in a year. I worry we are not.

Footnotes

1. Trump’s justification of the seizure by claiming that we are taking back what was originally ours is morally and strategically toxic. Morally toxic: It punishes ordinary people for the acts of their leaders 20 years ago. Venezuelans need the income from their oil more than US oil companies, the American people, or the US government. The logic of an oil embargo, whether right or wrong, is to incentivize a regime to change. Here, there is no corollary incentive we are working towards. It’s simply cruelty. Strategically toxic: It looks like a resource grab, which it is. This will destroy legitimacy with Venezuelans, Latin America, and many allies, and risk creating prolonged resistance from Venezuelans. Nation-building relies on legitimacy from the populace and coalition building. Our resource grab destroys both. ↩

2. Although limited, Trump has received pushback from courts, the press, Congress, and the American people through democracy. ↩

3. People in the United States know nothing about South America and current events in South America. That is not a critique as there is nothing wrong with this ignorance; it just is. ↩

4. Do I even need to state the comparison? ↩

5. Through his rhetoric, Trump routinely dehumanizes Latino and Venezuelan immigrants. ↩