Protests over Venezuela are spreading worldwide, but much of the coverage overlooks a central issue: whose voices are actually being heard.
Western demonstrations chanting “hands off Venezuela” often stand in sharp contrast to Venezuelans around the world reacting to the end of Nicolás Maduro’s rule. Maduro did not govern by consent. His regime was marked by stolen elections, repression, censorship, and alignment with the Iranian, Russian, and Chinese axis. Supporting Maduro is not a neutral position. It is support for an authoritarian system.
At the same time, Venezuela’s future remains uncertain. Police patrols continue, political outcomes are unclear, and many Venezuelans remain cautious despite relief at the dictatorship’s collapse. Multiple truths can coexist. U.S. motives deserve scrutiny. Geopolitics matter. But whitewashing a brutal regime out of political reflex erases the people who lived under it.
Similar dynamics appear elsewhere. Protests against Iran’s Islamist regime are frequently dismissed or undercovered, while repression under Hamas in Gaza is reframed even as civilians suffer. Dictatorship produces the same outcomes across regions: silencing, fear, and repression. The voices of those living under these systems exist, even when they are not amplified.