Saving Venezuela is also America First

The vast majority of Americans who voted on Nov. 5 did so to make America great again. And making America great again involves, as has been Donald Trump's doctrine since 2015, putting America first. It is the will of Americans and it is the right thing to do.

Unfortunately, because of the Biden administration's ineptitude, concessions and weakness, America's enemies took advantage to seize decisive spaces of influence in the continent. Today, with the situation in Colombia and Mexico, the Panama Canal problem, and, above all, the position of the Cuban, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan tyrannies, the hemisphere is not aligned with the interests of the United States. Iran, Russia and China have sunk in their teeth.

But worse, factors in the hemisphere put U.S. interests at serious risk. In particular, Venezuela puts U.S. national security at risk. This, in following with America First, should be intolerable.

Venezuela, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Trump himself have rightly said, represents a focus of destabilization in the continent. From Venezuela, the communist regime of Nicolás Maduro whose head is worth 25 million, as was the reward for Osama Bin Laden, has exported not only cocaine, but also organized crime groups that have infiltrated societies to generate terror and chaos throughout the region. An example of this is Tren de Aragua, the Maduro-funded gang that today has completely penetrated major U.S. cities.

In addition, as Rubio claimed, the Iranian regime, which has planned to assassinate Trump, uses Venezuela as a base for development, both of drones and of terrorists who, with Venezuelan passports, travel quietly across the continent.

That is so because Maduro depends on it. Maduro's regime is a tyranny sustained on terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime. That is its nature. There is no way to really stop these serious problems without seeking to save Venezuela at the same time.

Trump promised to make America safe. We know he will deliver. Making America safe means not only shielding the country from illegal migration, drug trafficking and threats from hostile regimes, but also neutralizing those who cause those threats. Otherwise, the problems will never stop.

A deal with Maduro would be a lethal mistake that, as Biden and his concessions did, would only strengthen a regime that is a focus of destabilization in the hemisphere. Precisely, the Democratic administration believed that by making concessions or reaching agreements, it would placate the will of Maduro's tyranny to spread chaos, terror, death and lots of cocaine. Biden made the tragic mistake of underestimating Maduro. The regime saw his face and, in the July 28 election, stole the results because it believed there would be no consequences.

Precisely, there were no consequences because there was weak leadership in Washington, which allowed itself to be conned and did not have the will to really solve the causes of the great dangers facing the continent today. But that, hopefully, has changed.

Saving Venezuela from terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime is, without a doubt, making America great again. America First implies a return to a doctrine in which the continent is akin to Washington's interests. Otherwise, it is like only reinforcing the windows of the house while the neighborhood descends into anarchy.