Trump vs. Maduro – When Power Ends a Dictator

What a spectacular start to the new year. The fewer dictators in power around the world, the better it is for humanity everywhere.

1. Undoubtedly, the United States, under President Trump, intended to take us symbolically thirty-six years back to January 3, 1990 when, under President George H. W. Bush, Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega was arrested. That operation, known as “Operation Just Cause,” involved deploying thousands of U.S. troops on Panamanian soil. The charges leveled against Noriega bear striking similarity to those now facing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who, along with his wife, was arrested and whose presidential legitimacy is widely questioned, sparking both domestic and international controversy.

It seems that dictators, across eras, never learn their lesson… or perhaps, as history shows, they simply will never learn it.

Who is Maduro?

Nicolás Maduro is a Venezuelan politician, born in 1962, who rose through the Chavist movement as one of the closest allies of the late President Hugo Chávez. Maduro began his career in trade unions before ascending government ranks, serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2012, and then as Vice President in 2012. After Chávez’s death, he assumed the presidency in 2013 amid contested elections. Since taking office, Maduro has solidified an authoritarian model of governance that undermines institutions, politicizes the judiciary, marginalizes opposition, and entrenches military influence alongside informal economic networks. Internationally, he has faced repeated accusations of election fraud, severe human rights violations, and pervasive corruption, while forging close alliances with Russia, China, and Iran, placing Venezuela in direct confrontation with the United States and the West, turning the country into a stage for broader geopolitical conflict.

Venezuela’s Economic Reality Under Maduro

During Maduro’s rule, Venezuela has experienced unprecedented economic collapse despite possessing the world’s largest proven oil reserves. The economy has suffered hyperinflation, currency collapse, acute shortages of food, medicine, and fuel, alongside growing international isolation. This economic failure triggered a major humanitarian crisis, driving millions of Venezuelans to emigrate in one of the largest displacement waves in modern Latin American history. GDP has contracted sharply over the years, pushing Venezuela closer to the “failed state” model than that of a wealthy oil nation.

Primary Causes of the Collapse

The severe economic decline stems from multiple, intertwined factors:

Heavy dependence on oil, leaving the economy vulnerable to global price fluctuations, especially after the 2014 oil price collapse.

Populist economic policies under Maduro, including extensive nationalizations and uncontrolled spending, leading to fiscal deficits and runaway inflation.

Mismanagement and structural corruption, particularly in the oil sector, which should have been the economic backbone.

U.S. and Western sanctions, which hindered access to financing and international markets.

Prioritization of political repression over economic reform, with the regime focusing on control rather than addressing the root causes of the crisis.

The 2024 Presidential Election

In July 2024, the National Electoral Council officially announced Nicolás Maduro’s victory with approximately 51.2% of the vote, compared to roughly 44% for opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia. Opposition leader María Corina Machado rejected the results, asserting that her candidate had won decisively based on polling data from thousands of polling stations. She also accused the electoral authorities of withholding detailed results from around 30,000 polling centers, raising serious concerns about transparency. International observers and UN agencies reported that the election lacked even minimal integrity, particularly given the unexplained delays in announcing results. Consequently, the United States and several other countries refused to recognize the legitimacy of the election, considering it unreflective of the Venezuelan people’s will.

According to German broadcaster DW, opposition leader María Corina Machado later stated that Maduro was effectively removed from power after refusing to relinquish authority through negotiation, and that Edmundo González the candidate recognized by the opposition, the United States, and international observers as the true winner of the 2024 election is best suited to assume the presidency.

Political Conclusion

In short, Nicolás Maduro was not merely a failed president; he was a dictator who lost popular legitimacy and substituted it with brute force, foreign alliances, and domestic patronage networks. Over time, he became a burden not only to his own people but also to those who supported and enabled him. Personally, from the depths of my experience and perspective, I hope that the dictator succeeding Maduro in the Middle East will be someone whose tyranny and oppression I have witnessed firsthand, leaving the world as a witness to the consequences of despotism and the imperative of accountability.

Note: This article was originally published in Swedish yesterday, Saturday, January 3, 2026, in Bulletin, and is published here exclusively in its English version.