For far too long, the Western Hemisphere tolerated a narco-dictator masquerading as a president while an entire nation starved, fled, or disappeared. Nicolás Maduro did not simply fail Venezuela. He occupied it. He weaponized food, crushed dissent, partnered with America’s enemies, and turned one of the richest nations on Earth into a humanitarian graveyard.
Communism did exactly what it always does. It destroyed everything it touched.
Now that Maduro has finally been removed from power and placed under United States custody, let’s be clear: this is not imperialism. This is accountability. This moment matters not just for Venezuela, but for the United States as well.
A free Venezuela means a more stable hemisphere. It means reduced mass migration, weakened cartel networks, and a decisive blow to the authoritarian axis supported by Cuba, Russia, China, and Iran. America is safer when tyrants learn that geography no longer guarantees immunity. Oceans no longer protect despots, and that is a good thing.
For the Venezuelan people, this moment represents something even greater. It represents hope.
Hope that exile may finally end.
Hope that political prisoners can come home.
Hope that children can grow up without indoctrination, ration cards, or fear.
Freedom is contagious. Once it takes root, no regime—no matter how brutal—can fully suppress it again.
Let’s also be honest about how this happened. It did not come from diplomatic workshops, international panels, or strongly worded letters. It happened because strength still matters. Resolve still matters. Moral clarity still matters.
Which brings me to President Trump.
If America can act decisively against a communist dictator in our own hemisphere, then we must stop pretending the world’s largest state sponsor of terror deserves endless patience. Iran’s regime brutalizes its people, funds terror across the globe, chants “Death to America,” and races toward nuclear capability. The Iranian people, like the Venezuelans, are not our enemy. Their rulers are.
The lesson is simple. Tyrants do not fall because we negotiate harder. They fall when the free world stops appeasing them and starts confronting them.
With Maduro’s reign over, let this serve as a warning to every dictator still watching from palaces and bunkers. America is done pretending. Freedom has a spine again, and it is about time.
As for Maduro, he’ll need to get used to the accommodations of the Bureau of Prisons—a far different reality from the mansion living and steakhouse dining he was used to.