By John A. Tures, Professor of Political Science, LaGrange College

Over the weekend, the U.S. government’s dramatic “leadership decapitation” action to arrest Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro on drug charges shocked the world, and even members of the U.S. President’s political party. But in order to achieve a long-term successful partnership, we need to be supporting Venezuelan democracy, and not engage in Old World Colonialism.

Few leaders deserve the humiliation of arrest and detention as Maduro does. As Freedom House has reported “Venezuela’s democratic institutions have been deteriorating since 1999, but conditions have grown sharply worse in recent years due to harsher government crackdowns on the opposition and the ruling party’s use of thoroughly flawed elections to seize full control of state institutions. The authorities have closed off virtually all channels for political dissent, restricting civil liberties and prosecuting perceived opponents without regard for due process.” Maduro scored a 0/40 on political rights and 13/60 for civil liberties, a “not free” country.

Our rationale for arresting Maduro rings hollow, given that Donald Trump just pardoned the former President of Honduras at the end of 2025 for presiding over the very same type of drug running activities, turned over legally and willingly by his country, who was prosecuted and convicted in America by those who had worked under both parties, after only serving a fraction of his sentence. Trump even admitted “I don’t know him” when making the decision to free him.

Venezuelans in America are celebrating. That may not continue. Those who won elections in Venezuela that were nullified by Maduro and his cronies have been sidelined by the Trump Administration, according to MSN, as it was announced that the U.S. would “run” Venezuela under the auspices of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, administration officials, who will tell Maduro’s successors in his regime what to do.

Maria Corina Machado won the country’s presidential primary handily, and would have ousted Maduro in the scheduled election until blocked by Maduro’s allies in the court. She won the Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent support of democracy in Venezuela, a sore spot with Trump who said he did not see her becoming the country’s leader. When Juan Guaido won the legislative elections against Maduro, he was initially support by Trump in his first term, then was also sidelined by Trump, who preferred talks with Maduro, according to Axios.

Venezuela has long admired America. General Simon Bolivar was dubbed the George Washington of South America for defeating the Spanish Colonial Empire. In World Court, Venezuela relied upon America to represent her against the British Guiana Colony in a dispute over the resource rich region of the Essequibo. The British won, but there have been disputes about what happened in the case that have led to the case possibly being argued again.

Relations soured in the 1950s when we backed the brutal leader Marcos Perez Jimenez in the Cold War, which led Venezuelans to assault Vice-President Nixon’s motorcade. Support of dictators in the region also led to support throughout the continent for Fidel Castro.

In the 1960s, we prosecuted Perez Jimenez and helped Venezuela’s budding democracy fend off attacks by Communist Cuba and right-wing dictator Trujillo from the Dominican Republic. Venezuela returned the favor when we faced oil embargoes and price shocks in the 1970s. Corruption in the country’s two-party system led to the election of leftist populist Hugo Chavez, a former coup leader. He created the autocratic system that Maduro inherited after he died.

Supporting democracy to Venezuela should be a priority for the United States. Looting the country’s oil and rare earth resources for our own enrichment will only bring back a Maduro-type populist that led to the dysfunctional relationship that leadership had with the United States, and will only fan the flames of instability in the region, something that could help Russian and Chinese foreign policy of pursuing the same rich resources in the Western Hemisphere.

John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia. His views are his own. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu or on “X” at @johntures2. His first book “Branded” a thriller novel, has been published by the Huntsville Independent Press (https://www.huntsvilleindependent.com/product-page/branded).