I first arrived in Venezuela on a temporary assignment in the early 1960s which ended up lasting 37 years. Oil was $3 a barrel, and the country was doing fine. Two types of foreign executives were sent there: the young guys like me who could not do much damage if they screwed up and the older ones on their last assignment before retirement.

I met my wife at Carnaval, and we were married the following September. Shortly afterwards her sister married a politician who was founder and president of the transport workers union as well as a senator for Apure state. He was also a member of the executive committee or CEN of one of the two major political parties AD (Acción Democrática).

The parties were organized after the Soviet model, and the CEN was the equivalent of the Politburo. He soon invited me and my wife to accompany him to Apure to a cattle ranch. The next morning, I was asked to accompany him and his staff on a campaign trip. We visited homes and towns and everywhere throughout Apure State.

On the campaign trail, I was introduced as "Mr. Danger." This always evoked great amusement among everyone. At first, I didn’t understand what was so funny. My wife and sister later explained that in Venezuela’s most famous novel " Doña Bárbara, set in Apure, Mr. Danger is an American rancher. The novel by Venezuelan Rómulo Gallegos appeared in 1929. Everyone seemed to know the story. “Danger” is a fitting word for my next experience.

On July 29, 1967, at about 8 PM, we were eating dinner at my beach club in Caraballeda on the coast 45 minutes from Caracas when the table started shaking. Then, a piece of the ceiling fell into my soup. My wife screamed “earthquake,” and outside we went. The noise was deafening.

We just stood there wondering if the mountain was going to come down or the ground open up and that would be it. Buildings collapsed and over 300 people were killed. We were in the epicenter, but our house in Caracas was on the other side of the river where the quake stopped. It was completely undamaged.

The 1970s were the go-go years with oil prices high, and the country was suddenly awash in cash. Carlos Andres Perez was the president from the AD party, and he spent money like a drunken sailor. It all came tumbling down in 1981 when the new president discovered that there was no more money in the till. He initiated exchange controls and a cash rationing system with different rates.

I asked my lawyers to lobby for the preferential rate and later was called over to their offices. We met in a conference room with a group of them and me. I was handed a slip of paper with some numbers on it, and I said what's this? It was the number of a Swiss bank account with a request for a million dollars. My answer: I am sure you gentlemen have heard of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and that was the end of that.

 In 1985 I was asked by headquarters to supervise a team to evaluate a potential deal in Mexico City. Unfortunately, I arrived just as an earthquake hit though we were all fine. The next day another one hit while we were driving with the Mexicans on the Paseo de la Reforma. The car was shaking back and forth, glass windows falling down, etc. All communications were out. Things looked bad. I might have been killed, and my demise was a reasonable assumption. Result: My wife's friends and relatives came to the house to express their condolences. You can imagine the scene.

A day or two later, I finally managed to catch a plane to Miami. As I was fumbling with the keys to our apartment, I heard the phone ringing and ringing. It was my wife who somehow knew that I was arriving! That was an intense moment. When asked by cable if he were alive or dead, Mark Twain cabled back: “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” I’ll accept that exaggeration myself.

In 1989, Carlos Andres was reelected president in what was characterized as comparable to a coronation. The U.S. sent the Vice President, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Jimmy Carter, etc. But Carlos Andres found out very quickly that there was no money left. He lifted all controls on an afternoon when workers were at work. With the sudden change in money values, the workers did not have enough cash to pay the new fares to get home.

You can imagine the consternation. They started burning the buses, and the mayhem quickly spread throughout the city. People poured down from the hills and started looting and rioting. The police could not control the crowds. The army was called in; I witnessed the transport planes land with the troops. Live ammunition was used, and at least 300 people were killed. It was very chaotic and very frightening.

We were holed up in our residence but safe. By then I was president of the Navy League and the first American elected to be President of the Association of Packaging Industries. In that office, I gave the 25-year keynote address and was awarded the order of merit and the order of Francisco Miranda, which was the second-highest decoration.

As head of the Navy League, I regularly attended the Venezuelan Naval War College for various lunches and other functions. I soon realized that the officers were complaining a lot about the 100% inflation, and I duly informed the US ambassador. The unrest was palpable. We were awakened early in the morning one day in the early 1990s, when the unrest was at its peak, with a report that a coup was underway. The military had seized all the major cities but Caracas, which was left to Hugo Chavez to seize.

I went to the office to report back to headquarters, and when the gunshots became a little too close for comfort, I left and took back roads home. The uprising was finally put down and Chavez surrendered on national television with the words"por ahora " or “for now.”

In Feb 1992, a second coup was launched led by the Venezuelan Air Force. I watched a plane get shot down as the pilot parachuted to safety. Then, jet fighters broke the sound barrier, flying low over Caracas and firing. The building in front of us was riddled with bullet holes, but that coup was also put down.

As an aside, by then, I also ran the Dominican operation, and on one return trip to the capital, Santo Domingo, we hit a roadblock of burning tires. The driver told us to get down on the floor, and he barreled through the barricade with rocks flying. The corporate vice president, who was with me, said, “I am not paid enough for this,” to which I replied, “What about me!?!”

Back in Venezuela, the previously popular President, Carlos Andres, but now blamed for economic chaos, was impeached on a trumped-up charge, and a new president was elected. He promptly gave Chavez a full pardon, and on his release from prison, he flew to Havana where Castro personally received him. Chavez swore his loyalty to the Cuban Revolution.

By December 6, 1998, election day, the traditional political parties had lost favor. Chavez won easily under the banner of a new party, Fifth Republic Movement (MVR). He campaigned as a populist and railed against the ruling class.

in December 1999, torrential rain caused a huge landslide in the coastal area near Caracas. Approximately 350,000 people were affected and some 90,000 houses damaged or destroyed. The roads were unusable. Chavez's assistants, without his knowledge, asked for the U.S. Seabees to help out, and President Clinton loaded up the ships and sent them on their way.

When Chavez learned of this, he rejected the expedition, stating that no American military people were to land on Venezuelan soil. At this point, Clinton should have protested and asked for payment of the costs incurred, but he did nothing. He just let it pass.

Beginning in May 1999, Chavez instituted weekly television addresses. The program was called “Aló Presidente” (“Hello President”). It was intended to give citizens direct contact with Chávez. The broadcasts were scheduled for an hour, though they often went longer. His style was to harangue viewers with rants.

His manner was characterized by vulgarity, perhaps to demonstrate his common roots, although his origins were decidedly middle class. On one occasion, he exhorted that the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, needs a “macho to sock it to her,” and he immediately, on the air, tasked one of his henchmen to do the job. It’s unlikely that the mission succeeded. As you can imagine, then-President George W. Bush was also mercilessly insulted.

Protests soon started in Caracas and elsewhere. During one large demonstration, the marchers entered downtown, and government sharpshooters on the rooftops started firing and killing civilians. Chavez ordered the army to finish the job, and they refused, removing him from power. Pedro Carmona, a businessman and friend of mine, was appointed President.

A couple of days later, a countercoup took place, and several barracks started marching on Caracas. My wife and I were eating lunch at our golf club when the word spread. Everyone left, including us. As we neared my sister-in-law's house, where we were staying, the road we usually took was full of gunshots. I barreled down the wrong way on the highway and reached her house safely. The countercoup succeeded, and Hugo Chavez returned to power.

Upon his return, Chavez fully embraced Castro’s Cuba. Cubans were brought in to control notaries, registries, identification, intelligence services, etc. Cubans were located in all the barracks and bases to make sure that no uprising would occur. The electoral committee rigged the voting, and Chavez never lost again.

Restored to the Presidency, he continued his weekly “Hello President” television broadcast. He also started nationalizing companies which he would declare on the air. At this point, we decided to sell the company. Many of the negotiations were held at the Princeton Club of New York.

We reached an agreement and sold in 2010, and we were paid in dollars. A few weeks later, my nephew, who was also my lawyer, called me in New York, urging me to access Venezuelan television to watch Chavez. El Presidente proceeded to nationalize on the air the company we had just sold! We were very fortunate.

Nicolás Maduro took over after Chavez died in 2012. He has been in charge ever since. He has retained the Wagner Group, of Russian fame from the Ukraine war, as his personal guards. Russians, Cubans, Iranians, and Chinese run everything. Although Venezuela is under sanctions, thanks to money laundering and drug trafficking, the country is awash in dollars. Those who have access to dollars can purchase almost anything. Corruption is running amok.

In 2023, María Corina Machado had the temerity to run for President, but the Venezuelan Supreme Court disqualified her. In light of her disqualification, she was replaced by Corina Yoris on 22 March 2024. Yoris, too, was prevented from registering as a candidate and was temporarily replaced by Edmundo González Urrutia.

As you may have heard or read, Gonzalez appears to have won the election if the voting had been fair. Still, the Electoral Council and the Venezuelan Supreme Court gave the election to Maduro. On January 10, 2025, Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year Presidential term. The opposition calls the election and inauguration a “coup d’etat,” culminating more than five months of dispute over last summer’s contested election.

Edmundo González went into exile, and María Corina was arrested. She comes from a wealthy family and is Yale-educated. Caracas is militarized, and a significant percentage of the Venezuelan populace has fled the country.

Concerning María Corina, incoming American President Donald Trump messaged that if one hair on her head were harmed, Maduro would answer to him. In response, Maduro released her. She thanked Trump for saving her life. We will soon know how this all plays out. My hopes are with the people of Venezuela.

Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, María Corina Machado, @MariaCorinaYA, posted the following:

President Trump,

Your unwavering support for Venezuela’s fight for democracy is deeply valued.

With extraordinary courage, the Venezuelan people have consistently defied fear and brutal repression, standing united to reject a criminal regime desperate to cling to power and evade justice.

Maduro and his accomplices will fail. We, the people of Venezuela, are resolute in our quest for freedom and dignity.

Your timely and decisive concern for my safety was a turning point.

Under President-elect Edmundo González, Venezuela will rise stronger, freer, and more united than ever, becoming a beacon of stability and strength for the Americas.

THANK YOU. WE BOTH KNOW THAT FREEDOM WILL PREVAIL!