The Fall of Maduro, Trump's Gunboat Diplomacy, and A Tale of Two Venezuelas w/ Alejandro Velasco

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On this episode of Parallax Views, historian Alejandro Velasco—associate professor at New York University and author of Barrio Rising: Urban Popular Politics and the Making of Modern Venezuela—joins the show for an in-depth analysis of the dramatic events reshaping Venezuela and U.S.–Latin America relations.

We examine the implications of the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro, the resurgence of gunboat diplomacy in Latin America under the Trump administration, and what these developments mean for Venezuela and the broader region. Velasco unpacks the idea of “Two Venezuelas”—the divide between the Venezuelan diaspora and those living inside the country—and explains how this split shapes politics, perception, and international policy.

The conversation also explores key political figures, including María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and Delcy Rodríguez, who has emerged as Venezuela’s de facto leader following Maduro’s capture. Finally, Velasco analyzes the forces driving U.S. foreign policy toward Venezuela, arguing that Donald Trump’s focus on material interests like oil intersects with the more ideological agendas of figures such as Stephen Miller and Marco Rubio, creating a volatile convergence that could spell instability and conflict for Latin America in the years ahead.