Down With Maduro

Down with Maduro!

Once again, international organizations like the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Union of South American Nations (USAN) have failed to mediate successfully in a grave crisis affecting the region.

The days of Mr. Maduro’s reign are clearly numbered. But in the meantime, the worsening social and economic instability in Venezuela threatens to destroy all chances of building a more united South America and a more cohesive Latin America. The OAS and USAN both lack the teeth either to enforce or even really to influence the chaotic situation in Venezuela. To make matters worse, oil has bought the silence of many Latin American nations—think, for example, of Colombia and Panama, neither of which would dare to call for a debate about the current situation in that oil-rich nation. Those who dare to speak out against Maduro are treated as enemies of Venezuela.

Venezuela continues to have all the necessary ingredients to become a powerful, well-educated, and peaceful nation. It can become the example and the darling of a new South America. But to achieve that, Maduro and his poor imitations of Chavista policies will have to go.