On January 3, after months of escalation, U.S. military forces entered Venezuela and extracted Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores. In the two days following the operation, the Trump administration has indicated that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela until a full transition has occurred; meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela has sworn in Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as the interim leader of the country.
As Maduro faces prosecution in the U.S. and as Venezuela attempts to begin a transition process, what can be expected in the days and weeks to come? Global Americans’ experts weigh in.
It’s time to support the Venezuelan people
For years, Venezuelans have endured severe economic hardship, widespread displacement, and the erosion of civil liberties. Yet, in the face of these challenges, the Venezuelan people have demonstrated resilience and courage by peacefully advocating for a more democratic and just future.
A lasting and peaceful path forward must include free, fair, and transparent elections, conducted with international observation, where all legitimate political parties are able to participate and where voters can cast their ballots without interference, intimidation, or fear. These are fundamental democratic principles shared throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Equally essential is the protection of a free and independent press, which plays a vital role in informing citizens, safeguarding accountability, and ensuring that diverse voices can be heard without censorship or reprisal.
The people of Venezuela continue to seek freedom, democratic accountability, and respect for human dignity, and the international community must assist their efforts during this unique opportunity to move forward.
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is a former Member of the House of Representatives. She is currently Senior Policy Advisor at Akin. Her contribution was adapted from her statement on behalf of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute.
Fixing the Venezuelan oil industry will take time, money, and institutional change
In the short-term, the impact of Venezuela’s oil on world markets would be limited. The country currently represents less than 1% of global production. In the medium and long term, however, Venezuela’s oil production increase could make a significant difference. Technically, the country has the potential to produce 4 or 5 times the current production level of 1 million barrels per day. But achieving this potential would require substantial investments of over $100 billion dollars, and around a decade of sustained effort.
Venezuela has massive resources, low geological risks, and moderate costs of extraction. With the right contractual and tax regime, investment would be profitable at oil prices as low as $25-30 per barrel. The risks of investing in Venezuela are not below the ground, but above it. They are political and regulatory risks.
The Venezuelan government, particularly during the last quarter century of chavismo in power, has systematically reneged on deals with foreign investors. Resource nationalism has significantly limited the role that foreign investors can play.
Since the national oil company, PDVSA, is bankrupt and has very limited capacities, the needed investments would largely have to be carried out by foreign oil companies. To attract them, a series of factors need to align:
- Venezuela must have good and stable relations with the US and European countries, and oil sanctions must be permanently lifted.
- There must be the perception of political stability and a long-term consensus within the political leadership to open the oil sector to foreign investment.
- A credible and competitive legal framework must be approved by a legitimate legislature and executive.
If these conditions are not met, some “low-hanging fruit” investments, with high returns and fast recovery, might be obtained, bringing limited benefits for the country. But large projects, with long maturity, will not be developed.
Francisco Monaldi is the director of the Latin American Energy Program at the Baker Institute at Rice University and a member of the Global Americans International Advisory Council.
Democratic renewal should be the priority
Venezuela is a critical part of the Western Hemisphere shaped by decades of poverty and political instability, but also by extraordinary people with remarkable resilience. Venezuelans organized, resisted, and voted, overwhelmingly electing Edmundo González, under the courageous leadership of María Corina Machado. Yet Nicolás Maduro remained in power as an illegitimate ruler, presiding over the worst humanitarian crisis in modern Latin American history, systematic human rights violations, and a state captured by drug trafficking networks.
The consequences have not been contained within Venezuela. Millions have fled, reshaping the Western Hemisphere and Europe. Criminal organizations operating from Venezuelan territory have fueled violence across the region.
It is legitimate, and necessary, to question U.S. interests and motives in Maduro’s removal. Healthy skepticism should remain. But it should not obscure a central fact: his removal creates an opening for the democratically elected leadership to assume authority and begin a transition toward a free and democratic state.
This moment now demands vigilance. The removal of Nicolás Maduro alone will not define success. Success will be determined by whether there is a credible transition to the duly elected president, the protection and restoration of Venezuela’s democratic institutions, and sustained regional and international support to help rebuild a country that is deeply fragile and profoundly fragmented. Venezuela must be governed by its people, under the rule of law, free from corruption and coercion. Only then can Venezuela begin to recover its sovereignty, stability, and democratic future.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is the executive director of George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management and a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives. She is a member of the Global Americans Board of Directors.
Venezuelans deserve for their rights to be restored
As a Venezuelan who left the country due to political persecution and later built a career working on U.S. foreign policy in Washington, I find profound meaning in the fact that Nicolás Maduro stood before a U.S. court and declared himself not guilty. He was granted due process, legal counsel, and the opportunity to defend himself, rights he systematically denied to millions of Venezuelans.
For years, Maduro’s regime criminalized dissent and dismantled the justice system. Independent organizations have documented thousands of political prisoners, hundreds of cases of extrajudicial killings, and systematic torture and arbitrary detention. More than eight million Venezuelans have been forced to flee, making it one of the largest displacement crises in the world. Countless Venezuelans were imprisoned for protesting, posting, or simply being perceived as opponents, without due process, legal defense, or recourse to justice. Today, the architect of that system is afforded the very legal protections he refused to others.
With Maduro removed from power, a narrow but real opportunity opens to pursue a transition grounded in accountability and to begin addressing the justice that millions of Venezuelans demand. This transition will be long and difficult. Punishment and isolation have not been an effective strategy; instead, the focus should be on restoring institutions capable of delivering rights, stability, and eventually prosperity to the Venezuelan people.
This moment also places a responsibility on the United States. Beyond strategic considerations such as energy, geopolitics, or sanctions relief, any sustainable re-engagement will require minimum institutional guarantees, rule of law, and respect for basic rules of the game to enable private sector participation and long-term recovery. That is where Congress must lead, anchoring U.S. engagement in legislation, democratic benchmarks, and institutional reconstruction rather than improvisation. Venezuela’s future and U.S. credibility in the region depend on it.
Diego Area is the President and CEO of Global Americans.
