Venezuela’s Collapse Could Trigger Regional Shift and End Migration Crisis

Former Secretary of Veterans Affairs and former Trump defense official Robert Wilkie stated on Saturday that the apparent collapse of Venezuela’s Maduro regime could set off a chain reaction across the western hemisphere, stabilizing the region and reversing mass migration into the United States.

“ heating Maduro would be gone,” Wilkie said on “Wake Up America Weekend.” “He’d either be gone in two ways. The people would throw him out or President [Donald] Trump would remove him.”

The bigger picture, he added, is the downstream effects of the United States’ large-scale strike against Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. If Venezuela removes the last elements of the Chavista regime that began with Hugo Chávez, Wilkie said, Cuba will be the next domino to fall.

“Right now, the only lifeline the Cuban communists have is Venezuelan oil that’s given to them freely, but even that is down because of American sanctions and the operations of the Navy and Coast Guard in the Caribbean,” he continued.

Wilkie noted Venezuela’s military leadership remains critical to the next phase, stating Maduro’s vice president and defense minister retain power. He also highlighted migration as a central driver of U.S. policy toward Venezuela, citing that the collapse of governance under Chávez and Maduro fueled the largest population exodus in the hemisphere’s history—nearly nine million Venezuelans fleeing their homeland.

“We’ve seen as a result of Chavez and Maduro the largest exodus of people in the history of our hemisphere,” Wilkie said. “If you stabilize Venezuela, which has the potential because it has the largest energy reserves of any country on the planet, that stops the migration flow, reverses it, and people come home.”

Wilkie identified Edmundo Gonzalez and Maria Machado as viable opposition leaders with combined vote totals estimated at 70% in the last disputed election. He dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s criticism of U.S. actions, calling him “another thug” incapable of managing Ukraine or stabilizing the region.