Q&A of the Day – Maduro’s Removal & Venezuela's Future

Q&A of the Day – Maduro’s Removal & Venezuela's Future 

Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.    

Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com   

Social: @brianmuddradio   

iHeartRadio: Use the Talkback feature – the microphone button on our station page in the iHeart app.         

Today’s entry: Brian- I've enjoyed hearing you fill in for the national shows, I’m looking forward to hearing you live again in the morning. For Monday’s Q&A I submit this question following the ouster of Maduro and as a Trump supporter. How is this America First? Why should we expect this to go well? Look at Afghanistan, Iraq, Libia, etc. We don't have a good history of removing heads of state. I’ll look forward to hearing what you have to say. 

Bottom Line: Right, so let’s get to it. There’s a lot to unpack in this story and with the questions you’ve asked. First, the remarkable Saturday morning mission to arrest Venezuela's illegitimate president and dictator, Nicolas Maduro and his wife shouldn’t go unappreciated (regardless of if you agree with the decision to do so or not). To remove one of the world’s worst actors who happened to preside over the world’s largest energy reserves, without a single casualty is stunning and remarkable. And it's actually the success of that mission that I believe at least in part answers one of the important questions posed today.  

One of the biggest mistakes that can be made and that has been made in the immediate wake of the removal of Maduro from power is that this is only about Venezuela. I mean is it about Venezuela, well of course, but it’s also about so much more. For a very long time in describing the modern “Axis powers” I’ve regularly pointed out that China isn’t just China, it’s Russia, it’s Iran, it’s North Korea (with Little Rocket Man), it’s Cuba, it’s Venezuela and Nicaragua. Now a question I’ve never received but will answer is why it is that China and Russia – two major economies, militaries and players on the world stage would even bother with the other countries. It’s all been strategic. North Korea has nuclear capabilities, Iran has oil, Cuba has proximity to the United States, Nicaragua has vast natural resources including “rare earths” and Venezuela... They’ve got the oil. Venezuela sits on the world’s largest energy reserves – larger than the U.S., larger than Russia, larger than Saudi Arabia. China needs energy – they must import essentially all of their energy needs.  

China has long been expanding their presence in the Americas. You might remember that it was a year ago that the Panama Canal was a hot button topic because China had even gained outsized influence over it until Trump became president and stepped in. Imagine for a moment what the implications would be for the United States, and the rest of the non-communist world, if China were to effectively seize and control the world’s largest energy supply and be able to base operations in our hemisphere in Venezuela and Cuba? This had been the direction China was moving in. Removing Maduro and preventing the proxy-Chinese takeover of Venezuela is far more “America First” than it might seem. That’s the first extremely important point to consider. The next point is this... 

President Trump spoke of Venezuelan oil “being stolen” from American interests. Many so-called experts want to dispute the characterization but as always, there are two sides to stories and one side to facts. Here are the facts:  

• January 1st, 1976, Venezuela establishes state energy policy operations and procedures to begin the process of nationalization 
• 1999-2007 Hugo Chavez mandated state majority ownership and control of all oil operations within Venezuela (forcing U.S. interests to merge with Venezuela's state oil company). 

The quick breakdown of these events is this. In 1976 Venezuela established a state-run oil industry forcing U.S. interests to cooperate and/or cede certain operations to the state. However, the country compensated the companies at market value when this happened. Also, the government realized the major oil operators in the country brought value, and were allowed to continue operating within the confines of the new “public-private partnership”. When Chavez came along, through a series of measures enacted over eight years, he mandated that the state-run entity have majority control of all oil assets and operators in the country. Once he had that control, he forced all U.S. interests to merge with the state-owned company without compensation.  

Anyone who disputes that forced nationalization and seizing of assets isn’t theft is a communist (I say that because there’s a lot of that out there right now). American companies effectively built the Venezuelan energy industry and then had it seized. Having U.S. interests repaid for what was stolen along with improving energy supplies, and lower long term energy prices I’d suggest is also an America First policy. As for the nation building piece, etc.  

While there are still more questions than answers about what exactly will happen in terms of transitional leadership from here it’s important to note that the United States has a far better history at removing dictators than not. The perception to the contrary is a case of recency bias. Consider these names that the U.S. is responsible in removing from power, at least in part: 

• Adolf Hitler (Germany) 
• Benito Mussolini (Italy) 
• Emperor Hirohito (Japan) 
• Mohammad Mosaddegh (Iran) 
• Isabel Perón (Argentina) 
• Emperor Charles I (Hungary) 
• Manuel Noriega (Panama) 

Noriega in particular is notable because that development – which proved to be highly successful – is the most analogous to what’s currently underway. Like Maduro, Noriega was brought to the U.S. and tried for his crimes. Yes, there are examples a la Saddam Hussian in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan that stand out recently. There’s a big difference, however. Societies, cultures and economies of Iraq and Afghanistan were vastly different at the point of ousted leadership resulting in major U.S. military involvement to establish stability that the people of those countries largely didn’t want. Venezuela, prior to the impact of Hugo Chavez, was the wealthiest country per capita in the world, with its citizens, many of whom are our neighbors in South Florida, having had a strong quality of life and similar values.  

Just as removing Noriega from Panama proved successful, there’s little doubt that providing the people of Venezuela with the opportunity to have economic freedom will result in a positive result. Venezuelans are overwhelmingly supportive of Maduro’s ouster and will serve as great partners for the transition that comes next. As President Trump said on Saturday... Other presidents have presided over failed foreign missions but he hasn’t.  

Trump’s track record in ending the ISIS caliphate, moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, the Abraham Accords, combating Iran’s nuclear threat, ending the Hamas-Israel war - bringing relative peace to the middle east in the process speaks for itself. He has massive credibility in carrying out military backed foreign policy outcomes with quick and massive success. There’s ample reason to believe that Maduro’s ouster will be more of the same while being exceedingly positive for the U.S. and the free world – which should once again include Venezuelans.