Earlier this week, I wrote about how Donald Trump and Marco Rubio seem to be ramping up efforts to bring Nicolás Maduro to justice and, with any luck, pave the way for a free and liberated Venezuela. In the wake of these recent efforts, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado appeared on Fox News with Rachel Campos-Duffy to thank the president for his support, explain why people in the United States should care, and talk about her hopes for the future of the South American country. 

"We Venezuelans are deeply grateful to President Trump for his unwavering support to freedom and justice, and his decisive actions to dismantle this criminal terrorist enterprise," she said, adding, "This is a major step, because certainly Maduro has not only destroyed lives of millions of Venezuelans, he's strongly destabilizing the region, and represents a real threat to the national security and to the lives of the American people. So, this is a clear signal that has already reached Maduro and the few top brass individuals that still support him and are robbing Venezuela and pretend to stay by force, legitimately in, in government. But...the days are counted, undoubtedly."  

Due to mounting pressure — from both opposition within the country and the U.S. and regional allies — Machado quoted Rubio as saying that Maduro and his court are running out of options and "at the end, those that still support Maduro will have to make a decision, and they have a very short time to make it." 

She added, "Either they fall with Maduro, or they step and facilitate and cooperate with a transition, and an orderly transition, that will turn Venezuela from the criminal hub of the Americas into the energy hub of the Americas, the strongest ally of United States in trading and in security that the United States will have in the region." 

Campos-Duffy asked Machado what she has to say to the people in the U.S. who believe that we should mind our own business and avoid getting involved with regime change in another country. Machado responded by explaining that this is not exactly a regime change for two reasons. "First, because the change of the regime was already mandated in the presidential election that we won by a landslide," she said. "And secondly, because this is about dismantling a criminal terrorist enterprise that has taken the power of Venezuela by force." 

She also explained that a free and prosperous Venezuela is part of our own national interest, and I think Trump and Rubio agree. Not only would there be economic benefits, but it would also ultimately help with our mass migration issue and strengthen our nation's security. 

So, it is in the best interest of United States and the Venezuelan people to have this transition.We are ready to take power, the legitimate government elected. Venezuela will move orderly and peacefully to the transition, and we will see, Rachel, millions of Venezuelans coming back home, including more than half a million that live in the United States and want to come back to rebuild our country and reunite our families.

Something I found even more interesting is that Campos-Duffy sort of compared socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and his proposed policies to Maduro, and the NYC of the future to the Venezuela of today that Maduro and Hugo Chavez before him built. She asked Machado if she had a warning for New York voters. 

Say it louder for those in the back. Once you have communists in power, it's very hard to get them out. 

If only the privileged and/or misled people of New York listened to those who have actually lived it. "Venezuelan people are starving. Our kids go only twice a week to school. Our teachers earn $1 a day. That's the reality of Venezuela," Machado said during the interview, and she's not exaggerating.

Our own State Department recently released its "2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices" on Venezuela, and the results are grim. Here's the summary: 

The human rights situation in Venezuela significantly worsened. Throughout the year, and particularly after the July 28 presidential election, Nicolás Maduro and his representatives engaged in serious human rights abuses, reaching “a new milestone in the degradation of the rule of law” after the election, according to the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the country in September.

Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings; disappearances; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; arbitrary arrest or detention; transnational repression against individuals in another country; unlawful recruitment or use of children by Maduro-supported groups in armed conflict; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including violence or threats of violence against journalists, unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, and censorship; trafficking in persons, including forced labor; prohibiting independent trade unions or significant or systematic restrictions on workers’ freedom of association; violence or threats against labor activists or union members; and significant presence of any of the worst forms of child labor.

No credible steps or actions were taken to identify and punish officials who committed human rights abuses.

There were reports nonstate armed groups and criminal gangs engaged in violence, human trafficking, exploitation of Indigenous communities, sexual violence, and recruitment or use of children in illicit activities using force, fraud, or coercion. No action was taken to investigate or prosecute the abuses.

Comparing New York City to Venezuela may seem like a stretch, but every socialist and/or communist society starts somewhere. If we don't listen to the people who have experienced it firsthand, we only hurt ourselves. Here's Machado's entire interview if you're interested.

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