In the first part of this interview, Luis Fleischman, an expert in international relations, sociology professor at Palm Beach State College, and founding co-chair of the Palm Beach Center for Democracy, revealed the criminal roots that sustain the Nicolás Maduro regime and its close collaboration with armed groups and illicit structures operating inside and outside Venezuela.

In this exclusive interview with Diálogo, Luis Fleischman, an expert in international relations, sociology professor at Palm Beach State College, and founding co-chair of the Palm Beach Center for Democracy, reveals the complex and murky criminal architecture that sustains the Nicolás Maduro regime. With a highly detailed perspective, Fleischman describes how Venezuela went from being an oil power to becoming the hub of a regional drug trafficking network.

El Premio Nobel de Paz entregado a María Corina Machado ha sacudido el panorama político venezolano y ha abierto preguntas cruciales: ¿qué significa este reconocimiento para la legitimidad del régimen de Maduro?, ¿podría desatar una implosión interna?, ¿se acelera finalmente una transición democrática?

En esta entrevista exclusiva, el analista y académico Luis Fleischman, experto en transiciones políticas y seguridad hemisférica, explica cómo interpreta Estados Unidos el Nobel, qué mensaje envía a las Fuerzas Armadas, cómo puede cambiar la correlación de poder dentro del chavismo y si este premio internacional presiona al régimen hacia una salida negociada o hacia un mayor aislamiento.

Dr. Luis Fleischman has recently been featured in a wide range of Spanish-language media outlets—including CNN en Español, NTN24, Radio Martí, and América TV—where he discussed issues such as the Middle East, the deployment of U.S. warships in the Caribbean, and the Russia–Ukraine crisis. He has also published several articles in The National Interest, the Jerusalem Strategic Tribune, and Newsmax. All articles are available on our website. Additionally, Dr. Fleischman provided commentary on U.S. naval deployments in the Caribbean in interviews with The New York Sun and Diálogo Américas, a publication of U.S. Southern Command.

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to María Corina Machado, a woman who succeeded in unifying the Venezuelan opposition and spearheading the most effective peaceful social movement against the regime of Nicolás Maduro. Her award represents yet another international setback for Maduro’s government. It comes at a time when the Trump administration is intensifying its efforts to crack down on Caribbean drug-trafficking networks while holding the Maduro regime accountable for its criminal activities.

Walter Benjamin once observed, “There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism.” His insight points to the violent and bloody foundations upon which modern civilization was built: great monuments, cities, palaces, and fortifications often rose on the backs of slave labor, wars, and exploitation.

Twenty years of US neglect have created space for adversaries to build permanent footholds in the Western Hemisphere. Iran and other adversaries are quietly building an operational network in America’s backyard, one that sanctions alone cannot dismantle.