In Venezuela, Is This Time Different?

It’s sad but true: Venezuela has become easy for the world to ignore. 

The South American country’s slow-motion collapse into dictatorship, hunger, and the exodus of almost a fifth of its population has become something of a new normal. Efforts by both the Trump and Biden administrations to threaten or coax the Nicolás Maduro regime to give up power have repeatedly failed. Elections over the past twenty years have been not only unfair but arguably fraudulent.  

But there are signs that this time is different. For better or worse, the election scheduled for July 28 will change Venezuela, with outsized implications for the United States and the entire Western Hemisphere. Whether Maduro steals the election outright or allows for a democratic transition, the status quo of recent years will not endure, bringing unpredictable consequences for immigration and regional stability—just as the U.S. election enters its final stretch... 

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