This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Tuesday, February 5th, 2019. I'm Caleb Brown.

What's a proper U.S. role in the affairs of Venezuela.

Should Venezuela's relative proximity to the U.S. change how the two nations engage?

Cato's Juan Carlos Hidalgo comments.

John Bolton has made the case on behalf of the Trump administration that the US interests in Venezuela

are greater than they would be in in foreign countries because we are part of the same

hemisphere and has even tweeted almost I just almost couldn't believe it that he's tweeting out that Mr. Maduro and his

friends ought to find another place to live and have a happy retirement or something like that.

I don't remember the exact words. But at the same time, you know, the fact that Venezuela

has had problems and that the US seems to be nudging or is it seems

intensely interested one way or another also seems problematic. So what is your

view generally on the US relationship with respect to Venezuela

either throwing out its old institutions or throwing out its old

leaders and going back to what they had back in the early 90s and 80s.

I agree that we cannot compare the situation in Venezuela to that of countries in the Middle East, Iraq, Libya, Syria,

or in Asia like North Korea when some people discuss that the United States is trying to promote regime change in Venezuela.

What we have in Venezuela is 80% of the population, over 80% according to most surveys and polls.

That won their democracy back.

Let's not forget that Venezuela was a strong democracy back

back in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.

It was actually for most... 16, 70s, and 80s.

It was actually for most of that period,

...