DC Journal: Maduro May Be Gone, but Lessons From His Downfall Remain
This Column Originally Appeared in the DC Journal
Byline: Dustin Olson
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The world is still processing the remarkable raid in Venezuela and its effect on the political front.
In a bold overnight mission, U.S. Special Operations Forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from his residence on January 3 and transported him to New York to face U.S. charges in a narco-terrorism conspiracy case.
Maduro, a left-wing authoritarian who ruled Venezuela for more than a decade while ignoring election results, was not just another foreign dictator. He presided over the transformation of a once-wealthy nation into a failed narco-state, exporting drugs laced with overdose-inducing fentanyl, migration instability, and criminal networks and gangs directly into the United States.
A Harvard-Harris poll in December makes it unmistakably clear where the American people stand on Venezuela. Public opinion was closer to 80-20 than a partisan split, driven by concerns about drugs, crime and national security...