Let them take our oil!

For all of those who have remained silent over the past 27 years, despite the millions of Venezuelans who have starved, died, and been silenced under Nicolás Maduro’s regime, this piece is an invitation to better understand our history – and learn why many Venezuelans welcomed President Trump’s invasion.

When Hugo Chávez came to power in 1999, Venezuela did not experience an abrupt collapse of democracy, but instead, a slow and deliberate dismantling of it. Chávez used his early popularity to expand the presidency’s power, eliminating term limits and taking control of the Supreme Court. Over time, institutions designed to restrain executive power were weakened, and Venezuela drifted towards authoritarian rule.

After Chávez’s death, Nicolás Maduro took over and pushed the limits even further. Under his leadership, elections were no longer free or democratic, and as a result, an entire generation of Venezuelans (including myself) has grown up without a real democracy.

There have been no true elections. No independent courts. No real separation of powers.

Despite sitting atop the largest proven oil reserves in the world, Venezuela descended into one of the worst economic crises in modern history. Today, nearly eighty-eight percent of the population lives in poverty, and more than 8 million Venezuelans have  ed the country. Salaries and savings were destroyed by hyperinflation, food and medicine became scarce, and electricity, water, and healthcare systems collapsed, leaving millions unable to afford the most basic necessities.

In spite of this, the people of Venezuela, “El Bravo Pueblo,” did not abandon democracy without a fight. We tried it all. Most recently, María Corina Machado emerged as a genuine alternative. In 2023, millions supported her as she won the opposition primaries. Her voice represented a real alternative. However, her disqualification from running, followed by the globally criticised 2024 presidential election, confirmed that the last democratic option had been taken away.

What followed were political prisoners, torture, disappearances, jailed journalists, and decades of silence from the world. Máduro’s government treated its own citizens as enemies. With elections offering no real change and sanctions unable to remove the regime, by the end of 2025, many of us felt that all the possible paths had been tried and exhausted, and we once again began to lose faith that change would ever arrive.

However, her disqualification from running, followed by the globally criticised 2024 presidential election, confirmed that the last democratic option had been taken away.

This is the context behind why Venezuelans celebrated the events of 3rd January 2026, and why that date will be remembered for the rest of our lives. From an outside perspective, it may be hard to understand why Donald Trump’s actions could generate support.

Even those who actively disagree with Trump on most issues found themselves supporting this intervention. At that moment, they set their political di erences aside, because for most of us, this was never really about Trump himself. This was about the possibility, perhaps for the first time in our lives, of seeing an end to a political reality that had de ned everything we knew.

And so critics say, “They’ve come to steal your oil,” my response is simple: let them take it. If that is the price we have to pay to regain our freedom and to reunite our families, then so be it. Because for the  rst time in decades, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

¡Viva Venezuela Libre!