In 2019, Imdat Oner and Lana Shehadeh wrote “In Venezuela, an Isolated Maduro Searches for Allies Across the Globe.” Six years later, amidst rising tensions between Presidents Donald Trump and Nicolás Maduro, we asked them to revisit their arguments. Image: Wikimedia CommonsIn your 2019 article, “In Venezuela, an Isolated Maduro Searches for Allies Across the Globe,” you argue that isolation from the United States and many Latin American neighbors forced Maduro to search for allies in countries that share his authoritarian ideology and common resentment toward Western power and values. Six years later, what has changed about Maduro’s alliance-building strategy? What do you see as the primary reasons countries continue to align themselves with Venezuela?Things look very different today. The 2024 election marked a real turning point. Maduro scored unfavorably in the polls but managed to stay in power by manipulating the results, which dealt a serious blow to his legitimacy both at home and abroad. Even some of his long-time allies, including Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, have quietly admitted that his grip on power no longer reflects genuine public support. His regime is weak, more vulnerable, and far more pragmatic. Maduro’s foreign policy is no longer driven by ideology, but rather the need to survive.Globally, the landscape has shifted as well. Russia’s influence in Latin America has waned because of its war in Ukraine. Iran is preoccupied with both growing regional and domestic instability, and the fall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024 deprived Maduro of one of his longstanding allies.The countries that continue to engage with Caracas do so for practical reasons. Some are motivated by access to Venezuela’s energy and mining resources. Others aim to counter U.S. influence in the region, and a few remain tied through diplomatic habit or shared authoritarian political models. Yet,
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In 2019, Imdat Oner and Lana Shehadeh wrote “In Venezuela, an Isolated Maduro Searches for Allies Across the Globe.” Six years later, amidst rising tensions between Presidents Donald Trump and Nicolás Maduro, we asked them to revisit their arguments. Image: Wikimedia CommonsIn your 2019 article, “In Venezuela, an Isolated Maduro Searches for Allies Across the Globe,” you argue that isolation from the United States and many Latin American neighbors forced Maduro to search for allies in countries that share his authoritarian ideology and common resentment toward Western power and values. Six years later, what has changed about Maduro’s alliance-building strategy? What
