In January 2026, Venezuela entered a deeply contested chapter after the US removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. While the operation was hailed by some as the end of a brutal dictatorship, critics argue it violated international law and replaced one crisis with another.

US President Donald Trump now boasts of controlling Venezuela’s oil, as the country’s interim leadership strikes deals with Washington. Some call this a necessary transition. Opponents say it looks dangerously colonial.

So, has Venezuela moved closer to democracy, and will Venezuela’s future be decided by Venezuelans or by the US?

Mehdi Hasan goes head-to-head with Vanessa Neumann, who served as the Venezuelan opposition’s ambassador to the UK and Ireland. She defends Trump’s intervention and argues Maduro’s fall was long overdue.

Joining the discussion are:
Alejandro Velasco – Associate professor of history at New York University
Estefanía Melendez – Former diplomatic envoy for the Venezuelan opposition and associate fellow at the Centre for the Study of Democracy
Oscar Guardiola-Rivera – Professor of international law at Birkbeck College, University of London