Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in the Washington Times:

ROS-LEHTINEN: Venezuela after Chavez: What comes next?

U.S. dithering won’t encourage democracy

Since 1999, the Venezuelan people have suffered under an oppressive, neosocialist dictatorship that disregarded human rights, the rule of law and freedom of the press. For 14 years, Hugo Chavez trampled over democratic order, jailed political prisoners and oppressed the Venezuelan people. Chavez reportedly accumulated vast amounts of wealth estimated in the billions while Venezuelans suffered from high inflation and joblessness, rampant food shortages and a private sector that is threatened at every turn.

Venezuela is a pivotal national security interest for the United States. It is one of the largest foreign suppliers of crude oil to the United States and is a strategic foothold that continues to pose a threat to our interests in the region. Chavez was instrumental in bringing the threat of narcoterrorism, illicit activities by foreign terrorist organizations and the Iranian regime, including elements of Hezbollah, to the Western Hemisphere. Chavez’s cronies have made it abundantly clear that they do not wish to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement officials on terrorism and countering the narcotics trade. This was made clear once again as the new leadership in Venezuela expelled two U.S. Air Force attaches shortly before Chavez’s death. This unwarranted, provocative action was reciprocated last week when two Venezuelan diplomats were expelled from Washington. Still, there is more to be done.

In a post-Chavez era, much attention is being focused on new elections and a call for democratic order. However, elections for the sake of elections do not constitute a true democracy. Venezuela's National Electoral Council is extremely corrupt and colludes with Chavez loyalists, who aim to intimidate the masses in Venezuela by controlling the media and judicial system. A free, fair and transparent election cannot be conducted if the same players continue to control the already tainted electoral process. The authoritarian regime cannot be allowed to simply shift control from one despot to another in an effort to maintain its iron grip over the Venezuelan people.

The United States’ role in the post-Chavez era should be to support democratic order by continuing to promote the Venezuelan civil society and ensuring that their rights are respected. The freedom-hungry people of Venezuela fear that the United States is too weak to counter interim President Nicolas Maduro. Support for pro-democracy leaders cannot be accomplished if the Obama administration continues to cozy up to their oppressors and refuses to draw a line in the sand for Mr. Maduro, demanding an end to these undemocratic policies.

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