Trump gets it right in Venezuela

The Trump administration has shown commendable leadership in Latin America by recognising Juan Guaido, the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, as the country’s legitimate president, in a repudiation of the Nicolas Maduro regime.

It was a rare foreign policy move in the right direction by an administration that has been marred by one blunder after another. The move – and the global coalition behind it – offers reason to be cautiously optimistic that the leadership crisis in Venezuela might be approaching a resolution.

Venezuela has deteriorated fast from a nation in economic distress to one facing a full-blown and unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Presiding over the slow collapse has been Maduro, the country’s president since 2013 and now de facto dictator, who has been systematically stripping away existing democratic protections to consolidate power.

Yet another US-backed ‘‘regime change’’ in Latin America? Understandably, that was one immediate reaction. But in this instance, the US government got it right, and avoided the kind of unilateral, heavy-handed intervention of years past.

It’s unclear what happens next. Guaido has offered Maduro amnesty if he steps down peacefully, but, if history is any predictor, Maduro probably won’t go easily.