COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND ¨C ¡°The hour of freedom has arrived,¡± opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado proclaimed on X on Jan. 3 as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro sat in U.S. custody en route to New York.
That euphoria collapsed mere hours later, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced that his administration ¡ª rather than Venezuela¡¯s democratic forces ¡ª would ¡°run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.¡± Across Venezuela and throughout the diaspora, jubilation gave way to fear and confusion, which Trump¡¯s meeting with Machado on Thursday has done little to dispel.
What will become of Venezuelans¡¯ long-delayed hopes for liberty? And will the U.S. move to restore the popular sovereignty that Maduro had crushed when he stole the 2024 presidential election from its rightful winner, Edmundo Gonzalez?
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