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WITH Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro Erupted from Caracas on January 3, Venezuelans and the world are eager to learn about the future that awaits them.
At a press conference after Maduro's operation on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that the US would “run the country” until the transition was safely accomplished.
Isaias Medina, an international lawyer and former senior Venezuelan diplomat, said a peaceful transition was vital for the nine to ten million Venezuelans who were forcibly displaced and living in exile. Medina, who left his diplomatic post to protest Maduro's rule in 2017, told Fox News Digital that exiled Venezuelans are “preparing to return to rebuild our nation.”
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People react to news of the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro following US military action in Venezuela on Saturday in Doral, Florida, near Miami, January 3, 2026. (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)
With the support of international organizations such as the Organization of American States, Medina said the most important next step for Venezuela is the creation of a transitional government that can restore the rule of law and rebuild the institutions that were destroyed under the Maduro regime. Holding free and fair elections is especially important, Medina said, noting that it is “a legal obligation placed on [Venezuela’s] people because their occupied territory has never been just or truly free.”
Under Maduro, Medina declared that “there was no separation of powers, there was no rule of law, there was not even sovereignty.” Instead, Medina stated that Venezuela has occupied territory under strong influence terrorist organizations and human trafficking organizations Hamas, Hezbollah, National Liberation Army (ELN) and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). He said these groups are exploiting Venezuela's resources.
David Dowd, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that as long as Venezuela does not pose a threat to U.S. national security, the “ideal situation” for Venezuela “would be for American leadership to take decisive action at the local level.”
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President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago club Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Palm Beach, Florida, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listen. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
“The best thing we can do is to make Venezuela a productive member of the family of nations, and that's something we can help with softer touches without setting foot on the ground,” Daoud said. “I don’t think we need to try to create a Jeffersonian democracy anywhere.”
Following the overthrow of Maduro, Daoud stated that the level of chaos that would exist inside Venezuela would determine whether terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas will be able to continue working there. “It will really depend on whether the next day Venezuela creates a stable state, capable of properly exercising control over its entire territory, interested in the rule of law, not corrupt. “This will make it very, very difficult, if not impossible, for Hezbollah to operate, at least in the way it has operated for more than a decade since its connection with the original Chavez regime.”
MADURO'S FALL RAISES SUSPECTS OF BETRAYAL WITHIN VENEZUELA'S RULING ELITE
Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro gestures next to his wife Cilia Flores as they leave the Capitol, home of the National Assembly, after taking the oath of office during the presidential inauguration in Caracas on January 10, 2025. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)
Going forward, Medina suggested that the country would also have to manage guerrilla forces such as the colectivos, violent groups of Venezuelans who were armed and trained in old American and Russian military weapons. Medina said that if these guerrillas “brought back the guns for freedom,” it could help “unite the nation under one banner of development and evolution… so that we have a country that truly lives up to expectations not only in the wealth that it has, but in the people and the development of their education, training and jobs, because it was completely destroyed on purpose.”
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Although the path forward is uncertain, Medina is hopeful. “We have a great journey ahead of us so that we can build on the ruins of what this regime left us. But I think we will come out stronger and this is the moment. The time has come,” Medina explained.
