A new hope for Venezuela?

As a Venezuelan living abroad, there are dates on the calendar that carry weight long after they pass. For many of us, April 11 is one of those dates. Whether you were impacted by what happened, lost someone or were injured in 2002, April 11th left deep scars in the country.

On that day in 2002, Venezuela experienced one of the most dramatic moments in its recent history: a coup attempt that saw President Hugo Chávez briefly removed from power before being restored two days later. The events of that day included demonstrations, intense political polarization, police brutality and the tragedy at Puente Llaguno where 19 people lost their lives and many more were wounded by government-associated gunmen. Those moments left deep marks on the national memory and remind us of how fragile democracy can be when tensions spiral out of control.

For my non-Venezuelan readers here is a summary of what happened, YouTube auto-dubs to English, you can get into the video settings and adjust:

Today, more than two decades later, Venezuela is once again at a turning point. The capture of Nicolás Maduro earlier this year has awakened in many of us a sense of hope, a hope that the long era of Chavismo may be coming to an end, and that a new chapter for the country might finally begin. The full implications of this moment we are still yet to find out, and the future remains blurry, but for a lot of Venezuelans around the world it feels like a moment worth celebrating.

The latest developments are pointing to a potential turnaround. The ease of some sanctions imposed by the US and the possibility of a transition under the tutelage of the United States led by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio is keeping me excited about the future in my country and I started reading news about Venezuela again. We've been disappointed over and over again with elections, opposition candidates (some of them fake), protests and demonstrations and the only thing that happened was the National Guard and colectivos dispersed and put a lot of people in jail while also killing a lot of people who were only using their free speech.

Some people have mixed feelings about what happened, "the US cannot go into a foreign country and take the President", but this is not the reality. Nicolás Maduro lost the 2024 elections, only a few communist governments recognized the election, the rest called it a fraud and yet he was there, occupying the chair. What really happened was the US executed a clean operation to remove an illegitimate dictator who was also involved in drug trafficking among other things, Maduro was not the President. Something similar to what happened in Panamá with dictator Manuel Noriega. Panamá was also occupied and under US tutelage and it's a rising country.

The US has a good success rate guiding countries to become prosperous: Panamá after Noriega; Japan after WWII was demilitarized and restructured under US guidance; Western Germany was also rebuilt by the US and the allied countries after WWII; Taiwan also received a lot of military and economic support from the US. If I had to choose, I'd rather be under the US sphere of influence than the Russian/Chinese, the reasons I believe are more than obvious.

I think we have to celebrate, we were stuck in a dictatorship and crisis, now at least there's movement and the current government, also part of the Socialist Party, seems to be collaborating and all the internal narrative, even from official media, calls Delcy Rodríguez the "Interim President", as per the 1999 Venezuelan Constitution, Elections should be called after 6 months and this is also seems to be the plan of the US for Venezuela, to transition out of Chavismo.

While I am hoping for the best, I think it is worth pausing for a moment, looking back in time and reflecting on how much it has cost us as a society to be where we are right now. Families torn apart, sons and daughters in prison because they were caught in a protest, some of them tortured. Families dispersed around the world, I am an example of that, my grandma, aunts and cousins are all over the US, Spain and the UK, my parents and brother are in Chile while I am in the UAE. If everything turns out well and Venezuela is on the rise again and on track to become the country it should be, all Venezuelans must remember what happens when you entrust the wrong people to lead the country.

Today, we all need to remember those who stood up for their beliefs, those who longed for change, and those who prayed for peace, those who were tortured, those who died. I believe the best way to honor them is to remember and be cautious. Don't fall for charismatic populist leaders, no matter what color they have.

April 11th must be a date when Venezuela and the whole region remembers what happens when we put the power in the wrong hands.