People celebrate at the Bolívar square in Bogotá, Colombia, on Jan. 3, 2026, after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Luis Acosta/AFP via Getty Images
Reaction to the U.S. capture of the contested Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has been swift. But as Venezuelans around the world celebrate the removal of the authoritarian leader, some analysts have warned that the roots of “Chavismo”—a political ideology named after former President Hugo Chavez—run deep in Venezuela, and that much of the infrastructure supporting it remains in place.
Chavismo gained traction under Chavez in the late 1990s and was promoted as a blend of socialism and anti-imperialism that aimed to increase social welfare through oil revenue redistribution and state control over key sectors such as electricity, communications, manufacturing, agriculture, and banking.
