July 2025
Issue brief: How US policy toward Venezuela can make the United States safer, stronger, and more prosperous Two options for an ‘America First’ approach About this issue brief
Bottom lines up front
Informed by the Atlantic Council’s Venezuela Solutions Group
y The first Trump administration drafted a framework for encouraging a democratic transition in Venezuela; with a few updates, it represents one policy path the second Trump administration could take. y Nicolas Maduro’s recent promotion of a longtime rival may be a sign of how few friends he has left, raising the possibility that he may be more susceptible to “maximum pressure” campaign. y Whether Washington opts for incentives or a hard line, the goal should be to keep presenting dilemmas that make a democratic transition more appealing than the status quo.
US policy toward Venezuela is at a crossroads, with a degree of uncertainty still hanging over the new administration’s approach. The White House faces a choice: Should the United States try to use sanctions leverage to obtain limited concessions from Maduro on energy security, migration, and democratic reforms? Or should it bet on a return to “maximum pressure” in the hope of deepening existing fissures among Venezuela’s ruling elites and hastening a more immediate transition?
The oil tanker Kerala, chartered by Chevron, is loaded in the Bajo Grande oil terminal at Maracaibo Lake, Venezuela, January 5, 2023. REUTERS/Isaac Urrutia.
ATLANTIC COUNCIL
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