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There is a sculpture in the Venezuelan foreign ministry that conveys the die-hard ideology of those who in a relatively short period have managed to transform a vulnerable but nonetheless pluralistic democracy into an autocracy in the throes of economic collapse and humanitarian calamity. The work, Nunca Mas (Never Again) or Sin Nombre (Without Name), by Chilean artist Carlos Altamirano symbolizes the glasses worn by former Chilean President Salvador Allende, which were found broken in half and cracked following his death during the military coup of 1973. To any foreigner visiting the Venezuelan foreign ministry, the sculpture seems to say, "You won't take us alive."
Such symbolism serves as an important reminder that-despite having wrestled with Venezuela for nearly two decades-the United States still does not fully understand the internal dynamics of the regime or to what ends it will go to ensure its survival. Should the United States invade Venezuela or support another military coup? Has the international community exhausted diplomatic options? This article provides a brief history of what led to Venezuela's political and economic collapse, outlines the dangers of intervention, underscores the importance of a Venezuelan-led resolution to the current stalemate between the government and the opposition, and prioritizes the need to address the humanitarian situation along with the country's debt crisis as tools to pressure the government.
What Chavismo has Wrought
The Venezuelan political crisis has been nearly two decades in the making. Upon assuming power in 1999, Hugo Chavez and his loyal band of chavistas began to implement an ambitious strategy for consolidating political control, with lasting impacts on Venezuelan civilian and military institutions. Charismatic and omnipresent, Chavez blurred the distinction between government, party, and state to destroy the existing political order, undermine the country's institutions, and strengthen his own personal authority.1 His "Bolivarian Revolution" sought to replace capitalism with so-called 21st Century Socialism and traded representative democracy for a system of participatory democracy designed to empower the Venezuelan citizenry. Traditional parties struggled to unite and organize an effective response to Chavez, which allowed him to win election after election by polarizing and radicalizing the opposition. Even when Nicolas Maduro assumed power in 2013 by the thinnest of margins, the opposition was unable to maintain unity long enough to capitalize...