The stunningly successful U.S. action to capture indicted drug trafficker Nicolas Maduro in the early hours of Jan. 3 was not just the start of a new year. It was also the opening act of the Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy, a framework for advancing the “Americas First” Trump doctrine. But beyond the raid itself, ultimate policy success in Venezuela and across the region requires meaningful steps toward democratic restoration.

As Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Senate on Jan. 28, the administration wants to see “legitimate democratic elections” but that “a transition from autocracy to democracy [is] not linear.” He is right: Continued progress toward transition is the key, as is keeping the Venezuelan people engaged in the battle for democracy after 27 grinding years of chavismo.