Venezuela must be saved through American aid

Malcolm Durfee O'Brien, Managing Editor

Venezuela is in a bit of a bind right now. It is suffering 1 million percent inflation, no one can buy food, a political crisis has broken out and the dictator Nicolas Maduro is refusing international calls for him to abdicate his position. These are usually the requirements for the United States to engage in a western hemisphere country’s affairs. However, proposals by the current administration fail to address the complexity of the situation in Venezuela. Military action, which is currently supported by the Secretary of State Senator Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor John Bolton, would only add another layer of dangerous complexity to this already overcomplicated cake.  

The United States can really only do two things to help pull the people of Venezuela out of the depths of crisis at this point. One, it must contribute greater foreign aid. Hundreds of aid trucks have been sent to the country but blocked by pro-dictator militias and the dictator himself. This does call into question the efficiency of sending foreign aid to the country initially, but then ponder it a bit further, and it becomes clear why the US should keep up the aid and even expand it. If the dictator continues blocking the aid, which he will, it would be disastrous to his government. There is already mass, violent, protest in the country, a sustained story about the dictator destroying food shipments in the middle of a famine would fully turn the Venezuelan people against him. Also, foreign aid would make the protestors and the country loyal to the United States’ interests; it would make it easier for the United States to help the country transition to real democracy. If the United States engages with military force, it will only create a new generation of bitter Venezuelans who hate the American government and who will oppose trade with the United States. 

The other thing the U.S. must do for Venezuela is offer the fleeing citizens Temporary Protected Status. This would allow them to live in the United States while the crisis continues to boil. This would further American interests better than military intervention and would build better relations with the people of Venezuela who will have been educated in American schools and taught American values. 

The United States cannot commit to yet another failed attack on a foreign country after the failures of Iraq and Afghanistan; it must try the route of foreign aid.