{"id":54465,"date":"2026-01-08T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/?p=54465"},"modified":"2026-01-08T22:56:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T01:56:23","slug":"come-get-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/come-get-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Come get me!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After the electoral fraud of 2024, Maduro shouted, \u201cCome get me! Here I\u2019ll be waiting for you in Miraflores\u2014don\u2019t take too long, coward!\u201d Following a series of threats against Washington and nationalist speeches, the United States government began operations in the Caribbean in 2025. But the world woke up on January 3, 2026, to the news of the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maduro employed a belligerent discourse, ranging from insulting the Venezuelan opposition to claiming that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wanted to stain Donald Trump\u2019s hands with blood. He also bet on the song \u201cNo war, yes peace,\u201d held massive events in an effort to unite all Venezuelans, and even convened peace summits. All of this did nothing more than reveal his desperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the study of transitions to democracy, there is a school of thought that has analyzed the role of foreign powers as triggers of change in authoritarian regimes. Political scientists such as Huntington, Linz, Stephan, Diamint, and Pion-Berlin studied how international pressure led to the collapse of twentieth-century authoritarianisms. In Latin America, the comparable example to Maduro\u2019s downfall is that of Panamanian dictator Antonio Noriega, arrested on January 3\u2014though in 1989.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outcome of the fall<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In December 2025, Trump and Maduro spoke by phone to lay the groundwork for a negotiated exit\u2014that is, to avoid an invasion, civilian deaths, and material losses. The objective was to appoint a transitional government, hold free elections, release political prisoners, and pave the way for democracy. The refusal to relinquish power and the use of bellicose rhetoric toward Washington ultimately led to Maduro\u2019s capture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a regime falls, various political actors and pressure groups begin to reposition themselves. Negotiated transitions, in which authoritarian leaders bargain with moderate sectors, occur gradually; they are not radical ruptures. A transitional government is appointed, and civil liberties begin to be liberalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Venezuelan case, this will not be so. On the contrary, factions within Chavismo will seek to maintain the authoritarian structure through new leadership. Although the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) holds power, there are factions within it that will attempt to take the reins of the country. For the moment, Vice President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez has constitutionally assumed power; however, leaders such as Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello\u2014responsible for repressing the opposition and a pillar of the regime\u2014will likely seek to inherit power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is likely that the formation of a Chavista transitional government will not generate stability, but rather accelerate the regime\u2019s collapse or radicalize it further. Meanwhile, power groups such as pro-Maduro business elites, criminal groups allied with the government, the military high command, and the party\u2019s grassroots will seek to obtain benefits from whoever assumes leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The armed forces are the backbone of the regime. Protests following the 2024 elections\u2014whose supposed victory the Chavismo failed to substantiate by presenting official tally sheets\u2014have been repressed by the military, police, and paramilitary groups. Hugo Ch\u00e1vez left Maduro a militarized country in which the armed forces participate in civilian tasks and sustain power through weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happens to the opposition<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another element to consider is the fate of Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez Urrutia, winner of the 2024 elections, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, since conditions are not yet in place for them to assume leadership. For now, we are going through crucial moments that will determine whether there will be openness or radicalization. In the words of the renowned political scientist O\u2019Donnell: \u201cthe transition is the indefinite interval of time between one regime and something else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in an interview with Fox News, President Trump stated: \u201cwe cannot risk letting someone else run Venezuela and simply take over what he left behind.\u201d This statement not only opens the door for U.S. troops to impose order in the South American nation, but also for the regime to be restructured by force, as occurred with Noriega in Panama, Duvalier in Haiti, or Ubico in Guatemala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In conclusion, the fall of the tyrant is not the end but the beginning of a path of uncertainty in which democracy and authoritarianism will battle until the very end. Maduro was not the cornerstone of the regime, but rather the most visible face of authoritarianism. Nevertheless, the Chavista machinery has other, less visible gears that have been ignored in the equation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Nicol\u00e1s Maduro challenged the world with a \u201cCome get me!\u201d, he did not imagine that this shout would mark the beginning of the end of his power and open an uncertain transition for Venezuela.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":404,"featured_media":54449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16856,16812],"tags":[15635],"gps":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-54465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eeuu-en","8":"category-venezuela-en","9":"tag-debates"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/404"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54465"},{"taxonomy":"gps","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinoamerica21.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gps?post=54465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}