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Free Press Opinion: What comes next in Venezuela is most important

AP Photo/Alex Brandon / President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, from left, listen as Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Palm Beach, Florida.
AP Photo/Alex Brandon / President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, from left, listen as Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Palm Beach, Florida.

If one were to play the long game with the Trump administration’s incursion into Venezuela over the weekend, one might envision a democratic country, less influenced by countries who seek to export evil, a rising tide of wealth that lifts all Venezuelans, fewer deadly drugs leaving the South American country and an increase in oil trade by the U.S. companies who built the infrastructure there in the first place.

Those are the potential results if everything goes right.

And if it all goes right, no one would question the massive military maneuvers that concluded with the extensive and expensive raid that brought about the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife for the indictments he has in the United States for narcoterrorism.

Unfortunately, we’re a long way from knowing those answers. And we also have this from President Donald Trump on Saturday: “We are going to run [Venezuela] until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”

Say what?