Commentary

The Trump administration struck a blow for freedom on Feb. 26, canceling the last permit for a U.S. company pumping oil in Venezuela. President Donald Trump gave two reasons for revoking the permit, which was held by the Chevron Corporation of Houston.

First, Venezuela is insufficiently cooperative with the United States on the issue of taking back Venezuelan illegal immigrants and violent criminals. Venezuela is the source of the Tren de Aragua gang, which the Trump administration declared to be a global terrorist organization on Feb. 19.

“The regime has not been transporting the violent criminals that they sent into our country (the Good Ole’ U.S.A.) back to Venezuela at the rapid pace that they had agreed to,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Second, the Venezuelan regime is led by Nicolás Maduro, widely believed to have lost the last election to Edmundo González. Many countries, including the United States, consider González the real president of Venezuela and treat him as such when he visits their countries.

Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, but under Maduro, corruption and mismanagement have impoverished the country and led to massive emigration. Maduro is allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade. The U.S. government has offered $25 million for information leading to his capture.

A contributory cause to Venezuelan dissatisfaction with the regime is its violation of human rights, including homicide, forced disappearances, and a lack of freedom of speech. On Feb. 25, a report emerged that Venezuelan opposition activist Reinaldo Araujo died in prison because of a lack of medical care. His widow blamed the regime for his death. Araujo was arrested during an opposition protest in January. He is the latest of approximately 20 political prisoners to have died in a Venezuelan prison over the past several years.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and several members of Congress from Miami have been instrumental in taking a tougher stand against the Maduro regime. They have long supported the cancellation of U.S. oil company permits to operate in Venezuela and increased sanctions on the country. On Feb. 6, for example, Rubio oversaw the seizure of a private jet owned by the regime. The regime used the plane, a Dassault Falcon 200, to ferry its officials to countries such as Russia, Iran, and Cuba.

Simultaneously with the announcement of the permit cancelation, Donald Trump Jr. interviewed the opposition leader in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado, who won a prior election and hand-picked her successor, González. She is now in hiding in Venezuela and claims to have the support of many in the military. She said that the Maduro regime “represents a true threat [to] the safety and prosperity of the United States” for three main reasons.

First, Machado alleged that the regime, and its predecessor under Hugo Chávez, gave the Iranian and Syrian regimes more than 10,000 Venezuelan passports, many of which were used by Islamic terrorists.

Second, she argued that the regime intentionally promotes emigration from the country. She said that Maduro uses migration “as a weapon to destabilize the region.”

Finally, she said that Venezuela is estimated to produce or transport 300 tons of illegal drugs per year. This allegedly includes cocaine trafficking in coordination with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization.

Machado said that Venezuelan cartels are not fighting the government, as in Mexico, but are rather themselves in power as top officials in the Maduro regime. The Cártel de los Soles is allegedly in control of Tren de Aragua, which raises the question of whether it, too, should be listed as a terrorist organization.

She called the Maduro government a “narco regime” and rightly argued that a transition to democracy would help the United States in addition to helping Venezuela.

Despite and perhaps because of the cancellation of Chevron’s permit, Maduro will likely continue exporting oil to China at cut-rate prices. This trade, like that between China and Iran, would empower two U.S. adversaries at once. Russia and China could also attempt to use Venezuela as a military base, including for medium-range ballistic missiles, to threaten the United States. Florida is just 500 miles from Venezuela.

For these reasons, in addition to those mentioned by Machado, it is definitely in the interest of the United States to take tougher actions to transition Venezuela to an enduring democracy.

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