1/9/26 Tom Eddlem on the Capture of Nicolás Maduro

·51 min·3 clips

Trump declared on Truth Social that Venezuela's oil would now go, in his words, 'to me personally as president,' not the Venezuelan government.

1. This is an interview on the Scott Horton Show with Libertarian Institute writer Tom Eddlem about the economic history of Chavez-Maduro Venezuela and the recent removal of Maduro. 2. Host Scott Horton interviews returning guest Tom Eddlem, a self-described non-interventionist who has previously corrected Horton's claims about Venezuelan election history on air. 3. The episode's core question is how legitimate Venezuela's elections have been, what role U.S. policy played in Maduro's downfall, and what motives and consequences follow from his removal. 4. Eddlem says Hugo Chavez won a genuine popular election in 1999 and nationalized the oil and agricultural sectors, and that rising oil prices through the 2000s sustained the appearance of successful socialism. 5. He says Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's vice president, kept the illusion going until the 2014 oil price collapse exposed the economy's underlying weakness, driving over 10 years of negative growth and mass emigration. 6. Eddlem says Maduro cheated in the 2024 presidential election using electronic voting systems also used in the U.S., and lost decisively to opposition-aligned candidates. 7. He details Maria Corina Machado's long relationship with U.S. institutions, including National Endowment for Democracy funding for her group Sumate starting in 2003 and a World Economic Forum young-leader designation. 8. He notes Machado won the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize and the Nobel Peace Prize despite calling for the bombing of her own country. 9. Eddlem describes a failed 2019 U.S.-backed coup attempt using opposition figure Juan Guaido, who he says lacked popular support. 10. He argues the current U.S. justification shifted from stopping drug trafficking, which he says mostly involves fentanyl from China via Mexico rather than Venezuela, to declaring Maduro an illegitimate ruler. 11. Eddlem notes the irony that after Maduro was removed, the Trump administration installed his own running mate rather than Machado, whom Trump said lacked popular support. 12. He says Trump has openly stated the U.S. will seize Venezuelan oil tankers and revenue, framing it as reclaiming 'our oil.' 13. Eddlem and Horton discuss a Venezuelan immigrant friend whose mortgage payment collapsed to under a dollar a month due to roughly 200,000% inflation, letting him pay off the loan for a day's wages. 14. They discuss how much of Venezuela's collapse stems from socialism, oil price swings, and U.S. sanctions, agreeing all three are contributing factors without a clean breakdown. 15. Eddlem argues the deeper strategic motive involves cutting off Cuba's oil-funded military presence in Venezuela and blocking Chinese access to Venezuelan oil and rare-earth minerals. 16. He points out that Trump's own Truth Social post declared Venezuelan oil would flow 'to me personally as president,' which Eddlem calls a renationalization under U.S. rather than Venezuelan control. 17. The conversation is a wide-ranging, informal interview blending economic history, election analysis, and current-events commentary, punctuated by sponsor reads. 18. The tone is skeptical of both Venezuelan socialism and U.S. imperial motives, with Eddlem repeatedly distinguishing crony capitalism from free markets. 19. Listeners interested in Latin American politics, U.S. foreign policy, and hyperinflation economics would value this episode. 20. Listeners looking for a straightforward pro- or anti-Maduro narrative rather than a critique of both sides may want to skip it.

As heard by us

Venezuela's collapse meets the harder question of what government remains after Maduro.

Tom Edlum joins Scott Horton for a focused look at Venezuela through election history, regime change, and the question of what authority remains once a leader is pushed aside.

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Why you'd press play

You get Venezuela through Scott Horton's non-interventionist lens: regime-change pressure, ruined currency, and one mortgage story you will remember.

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