Carmen Maria Montiel carries a memory of Venezuela few Americans ever experience – a nation brimming with wealth and boundless hope. Before the descent into poverty and turmoil, Venezuela was a land of opportunity, a place where a young woman could dream of a bright future, and even become a symbol of national pride.
Montiel herself embodies that lost era. Crowned Miss Venezuela in 1984 at just 19 years old, she later competed as a runner-up for Miss Universe. But even amidst the glamour of pageantry, she recognized the subtle fractures appearing in her country’s political foundations, cracks that would soon widen into devastating fissures.
For decades, Venezuela maintained a facade of democracy, yet power consistently cycled between two socialist parties. This shift, coupled with increasingly porous borders, unleashed a cascade of problems. Crime surged, illicit drugs infiltrated the streets, and the once-renowned healthcare system began a rapid decline.
Venezuela’s prosperity had allowed for robust social programs, including universal healthcare. But as the population swelled beyond the nation’s capacity, and resources were mismanaged, the system buckled under the strain. Montiel arrived in the United States in 1988 to pursue a college education, initially believing the unrest back home would be temporary.
Her hopes were tragically dashed. From afar, she witnessed Hugo Chávez’s failed coup attempts in 1992 and the ensuing riots and widespread looting. Each passing year brought further deterioration, solidifying her fear that returning home was no longer an option.
Montiel sees a direct and unbroken line from Chávez’s rise to power to the current grip of Nicolás Maduro – a path paved with corruption, the insidious influence of drug cartels, and dangerous alliances with nations like Russia and Iran. She believes the core flaw was a system built on unsustainable promises.
“Communism always runs out of money,” she states plainly. In Venezuela’s case, the collapse of oil production, once the nation’s lifeblood, left a vacuum filled by criminal activity. The regime, she argues, became inextricably linked with cartels, transforming into a “criminal communist regime.”
Accusations of narcotics trafficking within Maduro’s inner circle have long been leveled by U.S. officials, specifically implicating the Cartel de los Soles – a network of Venezuelan military officers allegedly smuggling cocaine to North America and Europe. Sanctions have been imposed, though Caracas consistently denies the charges.
Montiel firmly supports recent U.S. military actions targeting suspected drug-trafficking networks off Venezuela’s coast, viewing them as a necessary response to a growing threat. She warns that the problems Venezuelans desperately fled are now manifesting within the United States, including the rise of dangerous criminal groups like the Tren de Aragua.
The U.S. military has conducted a series of strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling narcotics, signaling a heightened commitment to disrupting these operations. Montiel believes dismantling these cartel networks and exposing the Venezuelan military’s involvement are crucial steps toward dismantling the regime itself.
The United States does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader and has even offered a $50 million reward for information leading to his arrest. Some analysts speculate that the military campaign may be aimed at regime change, a prospect that would likely ignite debate within the United States.
Montiel insists that Venezuelans still within the country yearn for liberation, expressing support for former President Donald Trump as a symbol of hope. However, she acknowledges that removing the current regime is only the first step in a long and arduous rebuilding process.
The devastation is profound. Venezuela, she says, is now worse off than any third-world nation, a country stripped of its former glory. Reclaiming its past prosperity, she estimates, will require decades of dedicated effort – a full thirty years to restore what was lost.
Now, Montiel is channeling her experiences into a new fight, running for the open seat in Texas’ 18th Congressional district. She hopes to bring her unique perspective and unwavering determination to Washington, advocating for policies that address the challenges facing both her adopted home and the nation she left behind.
