The people of Venezuela have lived under the heavy shadow of Nicolás Maduro’s illegitimate rule. What makes their suffering even more tragic is not only the theft of an election, but the silence and inaction of the very international institutions that claim to stand for democracy and human rights.
History has seen this before, most notably in Zimbabwe under long-time ruler, Robert Mugabe, and the outcome of such silence is always the same: prolonged suffering for ordinary people. In this context, Donald Trump’s decision to remove Maduro is not just reckless adventurism, it is a long-overdue correction of a global moral failure.
There was an election in Venezuela, and by every credible account, Nicolás Maduro lost it. The will of the Venezuelan people was clear. Yet, through intimidation, manipulation of electoral institutions and outright rigging, that result was overturned. Democracy was reduced to a theatre. When a leader clings to power after losing an election, he ceases to be a president and becomes an illegitimate ruler
Zimbabweans know this story all too well. Mugabe lost political legitimacy long before he was finally removed, yet regional bodies, the United Nations and much of the international community chose caution over principle. Elections were disputed, opposition supporters were brutalized, and the economy collapsed, but the world issued statements and moved on. Mugabe remained in power not because he was legitimate, but because global institutions refused to act decisively. The cost of that inaction was borne by ordinary Zimbabweans.
The same pattern repeated itself in Venezuela. The United Nations and international observers documented irregularities, acknowledged democratic backsliding and then did nothing meaningful to protect the masses. No decisive enforcement followed. No effective shield was placed between the people and the state’s machinery of repression. Like Zimbabwe, Venezuela was abandoned to the consequences of a stolen mandate.
This is the uncomfortable truth: when international bodies fail, tyranny hardens. Sovereignty is not a licence to abuse citizens, it is a responsibility to govern with consent. Mugabe invoked sovereignty while destroying livelihoods. Maduro has done the same while presiding over mass hunger, migration and economic ruin. In both cases, sovereignty was weaponised to protect illegitimacy.
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Critics argue that removing Maduro sets a dangerous precedent. But Zimbabwe demonstrates the opposite. The dangerous precedent is allowing leaders to rig elections and learn that the world will tolerate it indefinitely. Mugabe’s prolonged rule emboldened other autocrats across Africa. Maduro’s survival sends the same signal in Latin America. If stolen elections carry no consequence, then democracy becomes optional.
Venezuela’s humanitarian catastrophe, like Zimbabwe’s economic collapse, did not occur by accident. It is the predictable outcome of unaccountable power. Millions of Venezuelans have fled their country, just as millions of Zimbabweans were forced into exile. These are not abstract policy failures; they are human tragedies born of illegitimate rule.
Donald Trump’s stance breaks with decades of international complacency. It sends a clear message that elections matter, that stolen mandates will not be normalised and that global institutions cannot endlessly outsource moral responsibility to press releases. When the world refused to act against Mugabe, Zimbabwe paid the price. Allowing Maduro to remain would repeat that mistake.
History is unforgiving of silence. It remembers who spoke, who acted and who looked away. In Venezuela, as in Zimbabwe, the silence was deafening. Trump’s action may be controversial, but it confronts a truth many prefer to avoid: when democracy is stolen and the world does nothing, tyranny wins. Breaking that cycle is not imperialism, it is moral clarity.
Trump’s action is a direct warning to would-be dictators everywhere: steal an election, crush your people, and the world may no longer look away.