Cristina Gonzalez/Staff Writer
After a controversial Venezuelan election, marked by electoral rigging and corruption, President Nicolas Maduro has been inaugurated for another term. The opposition boycotted the election, leaving Maduro to be reelected. This outcome does not surprise Eduardo Gamarra, professor of political science at FIU.
“The opposition had a decision to make, either they run and give the government legitimacy or they refuse to run and simply say, ‘you see, the government ran by itself and look where it is.’ The so-called opposition boycotted claiming that the election was rigged. They were right,” says Gamarra.
As Venezuela faces a humanitarian crisis, instability in the country continues to worsen. Many, including U.S elected officials and Venezuelan exiles, call for U.S. military intervention. For Gamarra, this is not a viable option.
“Calls for military intervention are fairly irresponsible, both on the part of politicians in the United States who are promoting it and on the part of Venezuelans exiles who are not willing to take the risk,” says Gamarra.
The United States has had a long and tragic history when it comes to military intervention. Gamarra reflects on past U.S military efforts in Panama and Grenada, expressing that the war scenario with Venezuela would be quite different.
“It would involve a huge military operation. Venezuela is a very large and complex country; although the Venezuelan military is not very good, it would probably not be an effective one-on-one with the United States fighting. We could do severe damage initially, but the problem with Venezuela is that today they have very important international linkages,” said Gamarra.
Both China and Russia remain key allies for the Venezuelan government.
In order for the United States to have reason to intervene, Venezuela would have to pose a legitimate national security threat to the country, according to Gamarra.
“Does Venezuela constitute a legitimate national security threat to the United States? I don’t think so. Venezuela currently poses a security threat to Colombia. We are already involved militarily in nine countries, in Africa and the Middle East primarily. Can we afford one more military adventure? We [the United States] are spread enormously thin,” said Gamarra.
Even if the current administration got congressional approval to deploy troops into Venezuela, it wouldn’t be an easy war effort, according to Gamarra.
“Even if we did, this would involve a very long-term deployment. We have already been in Iraq and Afghanistan for almost twenty years. Are we willing now to get into, in this hemisphere, in a war effort that might last that long? This isn’t Panama. This would be a long-term, protracted conflict. It would be extraordinarily difficult to win it, in a military sense,” said Gamarra.
Although Gamarra said that it’s simplistic to assume that the United States has the burden or responsibility to solve the chaos in Venezuela, he acknowledged that there are actions the administration can take to help.
As a strong advocate for the extension of temporary protected status, Gamarra sees this as a legislative effort the U.S. can make to help Venezuelan exiles.
“There are so many Venezuelans today who have legitimate claims to asylum. I think we have the obligation to extend TPS to Venezuelan immigrants who are here and can demonstrate that their situation in Venezuela would be precarious if they were forcibly returned,” said Gamarra.
Despite the Trump administration rolling back on temporary protected status for immigrants of other countries, including Haiti, newly elected officials are committed to expanding TPS for Venezuelans and for those who are currently being protected under the policy.
Photo by Reynaldo Gonzalez on Flickr.
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