Hemispheric securityTime to oust the Venezuelan dictator
The four-month effort by the last democratic branch of government in Venezuela - the National Assembly - to peacefully remove the Venezuelan dictator, Nicolas Maduro, has not succeeded. It is time for the major democratic powers around Venezuela - Colombia, Brazil and the United States - to militarily intervene to end the dictatorship.
Nicholas Maduro with Russian President Putin // Source: kremlin.ru
The four-month effort by the last democratic branch of government in Venezuela - the National Assembly - to peacefully remove the Venezuelan dictator, Nicolas Maduro, has not succeeded. The Assembly’s duly-elected interim President Juan Guaido called last week for a military uprising to oust Maduro, whose Socialist dictatorship has destroyed the oil-rich nation of thirty million - turning it into an impoverished, crime-ridden disaster. But despite the defection of some military units, the Maduro regime kept control - for now.
The problem is that because of two factors: the economic collapse of the country; and the increasing foreign control by Cuba and Russia, only foreign intervention can end this nightmare.
Venezuela was once - and should be - one of the richest countries in the world. But 20 years of “Socialism” have destroyed its economy, and created child malnutrition, gang violence, starvation, mass murder, mass exodus, and government death squads. Three million Venezuelans have fled and now live as refugees in neighboring Colombia.
The Maduro regime keeps control with 20,000 communist Cuban troops, and nearly 1,000 Russian special forces. The Cuban military and secret police directly control the Venezuelan military. Maduro was ready to leave into exile last week - with an airplane loaded and waiting to take him away - only to be stopped by Russia and Cuba. That is why a domestic solution inside Venezuela will not happen - Cuba and Russia will not allow it.
That is also why it is time for the major democratic powers around Venezuela - Colombia, Brazil and the United States - to militarily intervene to end the dictatorship. All three democracies recognize Guaido as President. All three have warned Russia and Cuba to pull their military out. All three are major economic and military powers - Brazil alone is 50 percent more populous with an economy 50 percent larger than Russia - and could easily sweep aside the politicized and ramshackle military of Venezuela - if any of it actually fights for Maduro and his Russian and Cuban masters.
Military intervention should not be frivolously undertaken. But with the increasing foreign control by Russia and Cuba, and the mass starvation in Venezuela reaching humanitarian crisis levels, it is not just a strategic necessity, but a moral imperative, for the regional democracies to intervene now, and save Venezuela.
This editorial is published courtesy of The Leader newspapers
