No time for democracy in Caracas
The prospects of political reform are bleak. Rodriguez has signed an amnesty law as gesture of reconciliation but, in essence, it shields Chavista officials from accountability. Though hundreds of prisoners have been released, the Rodriguez government simply does not meet the requirements of a democracy: free elections, an independent electoral authority, separation of powers, and guarantees of political rights.
What Trump is testing in Venezuela is a functional authoritarianism: stable, predictable, and strategically aligned with American energy and geopolitical interests. Washington’s business-first approach offers material order in exchange for indefinitely postponing democratic aspirations. Stability without democracy is a replicable model that could normalize the management of useful authoritarian governments worldwide.
Time and again, the Venezuelan opposition has converted popular fury into political momentum, only to watch Chavismo regroup, survive, and consolidate. In the run up to the 2024 election in Venezuela, the opposition leader María Corina Machado, a conservative, built a massive social movement uniting millions and backed Edmundo González, a diplomat, as a presidential candidate. The Biden Administration recognized González as the winner, but Maduro stole the election.
