Editorial: The fate of the Venezuelan people is now Trump's, and America's, responsibility

The Editorial Board, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Jan 8, 2026

Published in Op Eds

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"You are going to be the proud owner of 25 million people," the late Gen. Colin Powell told Pres. George W. Bush before the president authorized the Iraq War, according to journalist Bob Woodward. "You will own all their hopes, aspirations and problems. You'll own it all."

There are 6 million more people in Venezuela than there were in Iraq in 2003. After President Donald Trump removed the nation's president and his declaration that the United States will "run" the country until further notice, his administration now owns the "hopes, aspirations and problems" of the people of the beautiful and resource-rich land on the Caribbean coast of South America. It also owns those of Venezuelans in America, including over 2,000 in the Pittsburgh region.

And it has taken on this responsibility after making those lives harder. Last year, Trump canceled Temporary Protected Status (TPS) — meant for people from counties in acute crises — for Venezuelan migrants fleeing Maduro's regime and the privation it has caused. Now they may be forced to return to a country whose stability is gravely in doubt.

The legality of Trump's military action, under both international and domestic law, is doubtful, and sets a worrying precedent for a president who has not shown respect for the Constitution and international law. But few people, least of all Venezuelans at home and abroad, are upset that Nicolás Maduro no longer rules in Caracas. Only those who benefited from Maduro's kleptocracy are mourning his ouster.

Maduro's unpopularity has only deepened since he clearly stole the 2024 election from opposition candidate Edmundo González, who ran in place of the popular María Corina Machado, winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize whose name Maduro's regime had banned from the ballot.

Yet the Trump administration's unilateral action has left Venezuela in a state of deep uncertainty. The president appears to be willing to allow Maduro's vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, to hold the country together — but she represents the corrupt Chavista movement that has ruled Venezuela since Hugo Chávez took power in 1999. In so doing, he sidelined González and Machado, who have the best claim to a legitimate popular mandate.

Further, the very fact that we can describe the U.S. president as "allowing" a head of state to function in another sovereign nation highlights both the nakedly imperialist nature of the operation and the responsibility America has taken on itself. From Jan. 3 onward, the fate of the Venezuelan people, for good or ill, will rest with the United States of America.

The results of previous U.S. interventions in Latin America do not portend a good outcome. In the case of Caracas, for instance, will there be a peaceful transition to post-Maduro authority?

If there is not, it will be America's responsibility to prevent the situation from devolving into civil war and a worsening refugee crisis — but further American intervention itself may cause further disorder and bloodshed. Previous interventions, from Vietnam to Afghanistan, have shown how difficult it is even for America to either establish order or leave.

This is the era of fearful uncertainty that Trump has initiated for the Venezuelan people — including those in America. While the vast majority of U.S.-based Venezuelans cheered Maduro's ouster, they are also concerned for their future with the cancellation of the TPS program. These include many in Pittsburgh, who have made homes here while bringing a national culture that has enriched southwestern Pennsylvania.

It would be perverse in the extreme for America to send migrants back to a country left teetering on the brink of political turmoil by America's own actions. The least the Trump administration can do is to reinstate TPS for Venezuelan migrants until order is clearly established in Caracas.

That order is now the responsibility of the United States to ensure, while it must also ensure the full participation of the Venezuelan people in their own governance. It is among the most difficult tasks in statecraft. But it is what Trump has chosen to undertake.

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