Venezuelan Opposition Leaders Say Military Support May Be Last Resort at IOP Forum

Former Venezuelan National Assembly deputy Miguel A. Pizarro said he supports potential U.S. military intervention in Venezuela during a panel at the Institute of Politics Wednesday evening.

The talk — which also featured Génesis Dávila, founder of nonprofit Defiende Venezuela, and Freddy Guevara, cofounder of the political party Voluntad Popular — centered on Venezuela’s deepening political crisis under President Nicolás Maduro. The speakers argued that, after years of failed negotiations and escalating repression, international intervention may be necessary to restore democratic governance.

“We are trying everything we can, and that we are doing everything that everyone is demanding from us to do,” Rodriguez said. “But we Venezuelans cannot solve this on our own. We need help from everyone that can help us at this moment.”

The event comes amid heightened U.S. military presence near Venezuela and reports that the Trump administration is considering military action in the country. U.S. President Donald Trump’s aides have been seeking legal justification for military intervention, including the possible assassination of Maduro, the New York Times reported.

Recent years have seen growing allegations of election fraud and human rights abuses following Venezuela’s disputed 2024 presidential election. International observers and opposition groups have argued the results did not reflect the will of voters — allegations the Maduro government has denied.

Guevara said widespread suffering has led many Venezuelans to support foreign intervention.

“If you ask today, Venezuelans, if they want the United States government to exert military force to take down Maduro and the regime, they will say yes,” he said.

“If you ask a Venezuelan to wait for a better alternative, they will say that it is easy and a privilege for you to ask that because the suffering is too big,” Guevara added.

Wednesday’s Forum was the first held by the IOP since the death of its director, Setti Warren, earlier this week. Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein opened the event with a short tribute, highlighting Warren’s longstanding dedication to public service programming at the IOP.

Dávila condemned Maduro’s government for its alleged persecution of political opponents and said she and many others cannot safely return to their home country because of their political beliefs.

“For us, it is a matter of democracy against dictatorship,” she said. “It’s the opportunity to return to our country and be free there.”

Though the panelists said a peaceful transition would be preferable, they argued that previous negotiation efforts have been unsuccessful and increasingly met with state repression.

“People are in the place of desperation,” Guevara said.

The speakers also urged Americans not to view Venezuela solely through the lens of U.S. partisan debates or past military interventions.

“The discussion about Venezuela, many times, is just about Trump,” Guevara said, arguing that Venezuela’s history, political culture, and focus on oil distinguish it from conflicts in the Middle East.

“We need to fight that vision that after Maduro we will have chaos,” he added. “That’s not true.”

But despite their fears over the stability of Venezuela’s political rule, the panelists said they remained hopeful about the country’s future.

“In the same way we are the biggest crisis on Earth,” Rodriguez said, “we are the biggest opportunity ever. We are going to have the chance to start our country from scratch.”

“If we have a 1 percent chance, but we have 99 percent hope, we are going to go all the way in,” he added.