Indivisible Smith County Condemns Authoritarian Abuse Abroad While Rejecting Lawlessness at Home: Democracy Cannot Be Selective

TYLER, TX — Indivisible Smith County unequivocally condemns the ongoing human rights abuses, political repression, and democratic backsliding carried out by the government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. Jailing political opponents, silencing dissent, and hollowing out democratic institutions are indefensible—no matter who does it, no matter where it happens.

But principled opposition to authoritarianism demands consistency. Over the past six months, the Trump administration has engaged in actions toward Venezuela that themselves undermine international law and U.S. credibility: bombing alleged drug-running vessels without transparent legal justification, escalating covert and overt military pressure, and—most alarming—participating in the illegal abduction of a foreign head of state. These acts do not defend democracy. They erode it. 

Not only does Trump’s attack on Venezuela violate international law, it stands in stark contradiction to the Trump campaign’s repeated promises to avoid “endless” and “needless” wars, an important part of his broader America First agenda, says Stephanie Olson, Indivisible Smith County co-president. 

The United States has a long and painful record of interventionism in Latin America—from coups and proxy wars to economic coercion—that has too often destabilized nations, empowered strongmen, and inflicted lasting harm on civilians. History teaches us that reckless interference does not produce freedom; it produces chaos, resentment, and blowback.

What makes this moment especially dangerous is its global context. Escalating aggression toward Venezuela risks transforming a regional crisis into a broader resource war with China, heightening great-power competition and increasing the likelihood of spillover into already volatile flashpoints such as Taiwan. This path threatens to destabilize multiple regions at once—precisely the kind of cascading conflict that responsible leadership works to prevent.

Indivisible Smith County believes democracy is not a talking point—it is a practice. That means opposing authoritarian abuse in Venezuela and rejecting unlawful, destabilizing U.S. actions abroad. We call for an immediate return to diplomacy, adherence to international law, and a foreign policy rooted in human rights, multilateral cooperation, and peace—not hypocrisy and aggression.

Democracy cannot be defended by violating it.