National security expert predicts Venezuelan leader Maduro is 'going to be gone' under Trump pressure
Rebeccah Heinrichs cites oil export restrictions and growing internal unrest as accelerating factors
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}National security expert Rebeccah Heinrichs says the Trump administration’s escalating pressure campaign against Venezuela, intensified by designating Nicolás Maduro’s regime a foreign terrorist organization and ordering an oil tanker blockade, has helped create conditions for potential regime change "different" from those seen in other parts of the world.
"I don’t see at all how Maduro survives this. I think he’s going to be gone," she said Thursday on "Fox & Friends."
Heinrichs pointed to the Trump administration's pressure on Venezuela’s oil exports, tightening U.S. enforcement at sea and growing internal unrest as forces accelerating Maduro’s downfall.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}VENEZUELAN DISSIDENT MACHADO CREDITS TRUMP FOR ADVANCING FREEDOM MOVEMENT, DEDICATES NOBEL TO HIM
President Donald Trump (right) designated the Maduro regime a foreign terrorist organization and ordered a total blockade of tankers entering or leaving Venezuela on Dec. 16. Maduro (left) remains under intense internal and external pressure. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via Reuters (left); Brian Snyder/Reuters (right))
If he is forced out, Heinrichs said, the next phase will hinge on whether regional partners can help usher in a pro-American, democratic government without repeating the chaos seen in other regime transitions.
"You always want to worry about… what's going to replace it. Is there going to be something worse? But Maduro has been so catastrophic to the Venezuelan economy, to the people, and because of his behavior, he's forced migrant flows out of Venezuela," she said.
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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro greets his supporters during a rally in Caracas on Dec. 1. (Pedro Mattey/Anadolu via Getty Images)
"Even if you replace Maduro with another Maduro-like person, you're not in a worse-off position. Plus, we have opposition, pro-democracy people with lots of support ready in the wings, so I do think that this is different."
Heinrichs added that sustaining regime change and establishing a democratic system ultimately depends on the Venezuelan people, not the U.S.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She noted that removing Maduro is only the first step, adding that any transition would also require sidelining "militant people who support Maduro," who would have to be pushed out to make room for pro-democracy forces.
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On Tuesday, Trump ordered a total blockade of oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela and declared the Maduro regime a foreign terrorist organization.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump also accused the regime of using stolen U.S. assets to finance terrorism, trafficking and other criminal activity.
Fox News' Greg Wehner contributed to this report.