Venezuela needs elections: regional, municipal, parliamentary, and, above all, presidential. After 27 years of authoritarianism, kleptocracy, and institutional destruction, the country must rebuild almost from scratch. But sequencing matters — one election cannot be postponed, substituted, or sacrificed for the others. The transition ends only when the Chavista system ends, and power is transferred democratically. Electing new governors, mayors, or even a new National Assembly means little while the central question stays unresolved: Who governs Venezuela, and with what legitimacy?
Jan. 3 changed our history. That was the day Nicolás Maduro‘s dictatorship fell, the visible face of a Chavista system that has ruled for 27 years: a criminal enterprise built by Hugo Chavez, carried forward by Maduro, and today led by Delcy Rodriguez, three names for the same regime. The Trump administration helped make that day happen. But removing Maduro did not dismantle the system that produced him. Stabilization was necessary, but managing an emergency is not the same as building a legitimate government. A provisional arrangement can help a country cross a bridge, not become its destination. Only Venezuelans, through the ballot box, can confer it.
