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Americans unfamiliar with Venezuela may not know that in the not-so-distant past the nation was rich with oil and opportunity.
Congressional candidate Carmen Maria Montiel remembers a Venezuela that brimmed with optimism — before decades of political and economic turmoil turned it into one of the hemisphere’s poorest nations.
"Socialism and open borders," Montiel told Fox News Digital in an interview, are what sent her country into decline.
The Houston-area Republican won the Miss Venezuela title at age 19 in 1984 and later finished as a runner-up for Miss Universe. But long before her pageant fame, she says, Venezuela’s political foundations were already beginning to crack.
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While the nation remained a democracy for decades, two socialist parties dominated power.
"We got the influx of illegal immigrants, crime went up, drugs started to be a problem," she said. "The first thing they destroyed was the healthcare system. Venezuela used to have one of the most wonderful healthcare systems — it was paid for, it was our social security. Because the country was so rich, it provided so many services to the Venezuelan people. And of course, no country has the infrastructure for a vertical growth of the population."
Montiel came to the U.S. for college in 1988, hoping the unrest at home would ease. Instead, she watched from abroad as Hugo Chávez led two coup attempts in 1992 and the country erupted in riots and looting.
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"I decided I’m gonna stay a little longer, see if things get better," she said. "But they never did."
From Chávez’s failed coup to Nicolás Maduro’s current hold on power, Montiel sees a straight line — one she says runs through corruption, cartel influence, and foreign alliances with Russia and Iran.
"Communism always runs out of money," Montiel said. "Even in a rich country like Venezuela, oil production collapsed, and what was left for them was crime. That’s why they joined the cartels — it’s a criminal communist regime."
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U.S. officials have long accused members of Maduro’s inner circle of involvement in narcotics trafficking, particularly through the Cartel de los Soles — a network of Venezuelan military officers implicated in smuggling cocaine to North America and Europe. Washington has also sanctioned dozens of Venezuelan officials for corruption and ties to terrorist groups, though Caracas denies the charges.
Montiel supports the recent U.S. military strikes targeting alleged drug-trafficking networks off Venezuela’s coast and believes they are justified given the threat she says the regime poses to the United States.
"Venezuela presents a very high risk to the United States," she said. "It’s the drug trafficking, the Tren de Aragua trafficking … the problems that many Venezuelan people escaped, now we’re facing in the United States."
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The Department of War has conducted 14 lethal strikes on vessels allegedly smuggling narcotics toward U.S. shores over the past two months.
In Montiel’s view, dismantling cartel networks and exposing the Venezuelan military’s complicity are essential steps toward toppling the regime. "This is a criminal communist regime and we should never remove the word ‘communist,’" she said.
At the same time, the U.S. has intensified pressure on Maduro, whom it does not recognize as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. The Justice Department is offering a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.
Analysts have questioned whether the widening military campaign may have a deeper objective: pushing Venezuela’s socialist leader from power.
A U.S. intervention aimed at removing Maduro would likely divide Americans still wary of foreign entanglements. But Montiel insists Venezuelans themselves would welcome it.
"The people that are still in Venezuela are supporters of President Donald Trump because they’re screaming for freedom," she said. "They’re screaming to get out of the situation."
Still, she acknowledges that removing the regime alone won’t rebuild the country.
"The country is pretty much destroyed," she said. "It’s worse than any third world country. It’s going to take probably 30 years to get Venezuela back to what it used to be."
Montiel is running in the Nov. 4, 2025 special election for Texas' 18th Congressional district, a heavily Democratic Houston seat left vacant after the death of Sylvester Turner.
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