While ordinary Venezuelans celebrated, the world’s dictatorships mourned. Venezuela was allied with the fellow thugocracies of Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
The decapitation of Venezuela’s regime should provoke few tears. Despite its oil wealth, citizens were forced to eat rubbish to stay alive. Now dictatorships worldwide have been put on notice.
Venezuela was Iran’s forward base in the Americas. The regime provided Venezuelan passports to nationals of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance”, allowing potential terrorists to travel throughout the Americas with their true nationality hidden. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei had threatened to “hold responsible” those he perceived as being an enemy.
Terrorists are Tehran’s weapon of choice for doing this. Indeed, US statistics show over 480 people on terror watchlists were intercepted at America’s borders since 2021, with over 100 in 2024 alone.
A US Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard evidence that Venezuela provided shell companies and bank accounts to Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies to fundraise and organise.
It remains to be seen if Iran can rely on the post-Maduro Venezuela to the same extent, with Iran’s leaders howling in protest at the raid that saw Maduro captured.
Another round of garment wrenching over Maduro’s capture comes from communist Cuba. Cuba had been training Venezuela’s secret police in surveillance techniques to better oppress its people, in exchange for Venezuela’s cheap oil.
Cuban dictator Miguel Diaz-Canel denounced the “criminal attack”, but must fear he could be next for a late night helicopter trip. The island tyranny, just 90 miles from the US, is well within range of potential future American action.
The capture of Maduro will undermine Russia’s war in Ukraine. Caracas had sent troops to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine.
Venezuela had worked with Russia to help its “shadow fleet” evade sanctions and keep the Kremlin’s coffers clinking with coins.
As sanctions bite Russia hard, it remains to be seen if the post-Maduro leadership will wish to provoke Washington by continuing to help Russia thumb its nose as western sanctions.
Maduro’s capture is good news in the war on organised crime. The Venezuelan regime winked at cartels such as the Cartel de los Soles who trafficked hard drugs throughout the Americas.
It is widely understood that Maduro and his cronies took their cut from the cartel’s activities. The regime also allowed the Tren de Aragua cartel to wreak havoc. Tren de Aragua are notorious throughout the Americas for sex trafficking, often drugging and beating girls to control them.
Other dictators have been put on notice. Late President Hugo Chavez dreamed of building an anti-western bloc across the Americas. Instead, Venezuela had to settle for a handful of failed states united by nothing but their hatred of the west and their love of tyranny.
No doubt the dictators of the world will nervously scan the skies for helicopters before bedtime from now on.
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