[COLUMNIST] Venezuela: A nation under pressure, a people standing firm

Venezuela is rich in oil, fertile land, and a deep cultural heritage. It should be a nation that thrives. Instead, sanctions and foreign interference have made daily life harder for ordinary people — families, workers, and children who have no role in global power struggles. When trade is restricted, banks are blocked, and fuel exports are controlled, it is not politicians who suffer first. It is the people.

Like people everywhere, many Venezuelans want improvement and reform. But change must come from within, shaped by dialogue and national choice — not through threats, punishment, or foreign control. History has shown repeatedly that outside intervention rarely brings peace. More often, it leaves behind instability, division, and lasting pain.

While international actors argue over Venezuela’s future, the human cost of the crisis continues quietly. It is felt in homes where parents stretch limited resources, in hospitals struggling with shortages, and in communities doing their best to hold together under immense pressure.

Yet despite everything, Venezuelans endure. Across political differences, people share the same simple hopes: safety, dignity, meaningful work, and a future where young people are not forced to leave their homeland just to survive.

Moving forward will not be easy. It will require patience, dialogue, and decisions that place human wellbeing above political rivalry. Above all, it will require respect for the right of Venezuelans to decide their own path.

Venezuela does not need to be “saved.” It needs the freedom to heal, the space to rebuild, and the respect to choose its own future.

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* Haida Dzulkifli is the Director of Administration at the International Movement for a Just World (JUST).