We hope the administration heeds Pope Leo XIV’s reminder that the long-standing priorities of promoting democracy and upholding human rights around the world shouldn’t be discarded at the expense of hemispherical hegemony. It’s certainly not the case that President Trump and other leading members of his administration are opposed in principle to the restoration of the democratic freedoms and human rights that were comprehensively eradicated by Maduro’s hard-left regime. But in the wake of his ouster, they have focused far more on gaining U.S. control over Venezuela’s vast oil resources and choking off the remaining northward flow of illegal drugs.
