On January 3rd of this year, in the middle of the night, U.S. special forces broke into the Home of Venezuela’s President, Nicolás Maduro, and abducted him and his wife.

U.S. military presence in Venezuela had been creeping up for months—with much of it being attributed to cartel suppression. But, when President Trump posted an image on Truth Social depicting Maduro in a Nike Sweatsuit and a blindfold aboard the USS Iwo Jima, many Americans were left wondering, "What happens next?" and, just as crucially, "Can the U.S. Government do that?"

But while human rights advocates from around the world cautiously celebrate the downfall of the authoritarian dictator, life for many Venezuelans has not changed radically, and the regime Maduro was a part of remains in power through his Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez.

Another part of that regime that may have outlived Maduro’s rule is the Venezuelan Government's bribery of certain churches. Under Maduro, extra cash and remodeled church buildings were exchanged for pastoral support of the government.

And for the churches that refused to bow the knee, there have been multiple cases of intense verbal harassment, leading many to consider Venezuelans as having a suboptimal form of religious freedom—despite a constitution which protects that liberty.

For this week’s podcast, I spoke with Knox Thames and Anna Lee Stangl. Knox worked in the U.S. State Department under both Obama, and Trump as a Special Advisor for Religious Minorities. He is also the author of Ending Persecution and International Religious Freedom Advocacy. Anna Lee is the Head of Advocacy and Team Leader of Latin America at Christian Solidarity Worldwide USA.

Thames and Stangle talked through religious freedom before and after Maduro, the way Venezuelan politics has been shaped by the nations around it, Trump’s confusing justification for keeping Maduro’s Vice in power, and concerns for Latin American religious liberty at large.

Tags:

#venezuela #maduro #religiousfreedom #humanrights #liberty #freedom #church #christianity #latinamerica #latino #venezuelans