Why I'm Leaving the Country I Love So Much (Again). Written by J.R.

In 1997, I left Venezuela.

I didn't want to. It was the country that gave me everything, my family, my childhood, my first opportunities. But I could see what was coming. Hugo Chavez had just risen from obscurity, tapping into the anger of ordinary people with big promises and even bigger ambition.

He said he would save the country. Deep down, I feared he would destroy it.

Now, almost three decades later, I'm preparing to leave another country I love deeply; the United States. I never imagined I would have to do this again.

But I see the same signs.

The same tactics.

The same descent.

And I've learned that once a democracy starts down this path, turning back becomes harder with each step.

It All Starts with a Charismatic Populist:

In Venezuela, Chavez was magnetic. He knew how to speak to the masses, especially to those who felt forgotten and excluded. He attacked the elites, blamed the press, and promised to restore dignity to "real Venezuelans." The fact that he had no prior experience in democratic governance was spun as a strength, not a weakness.

Donald Trump used a similar playbook. His rise in 2016 wasn't just about politics, it was about grievance, disruption, and a willingness to break every rule if it meant owning his enemies. To millions, he was a savior. To others, a warning.

I had seen this story before. But many in the U.S. have not.

It's No Coincidence That Support Came from the Uninformed:

In Venezuela, Chavez's strongest support came from the poor and undereducated. The people most vulnerable to messaging that promised dignity, revenge, and salvation. He gave them symbolic power while dismantling the institutions that could actually improve their lives.

Trump has built a base that similarly distrusts experts, facts, institutions, and even science, not because they are ignorant, but because they've been taught that knowledge itself is a weapon of the elite. That's how you create a population that will follow one man anywhere.

This isn't Easy, but It's Necessary:

I love the United States. This country welcomed me when I had to leave my own. It gave me shelter, opportunity, and freedom. It gave me hope.

But now, I feel the same dread I felt in 1997. The same hollowing-out of democratic norms. The same drumbeat of blind loyalty over law. The same willingness to destroy institutions to protect one man.

And once again, I know I need to leave.

Not because I want to.

Because I must.

Because I've seen how this ends, and I don't want to be standing in the rubble, saying again. "We didn't think it could happen here."

This isn't about left vs. right. It's about democracy vs. decay.

If you've lived through this kind of political collapse, whether in Venezuela, Hungary, Turkey, or elsewhere; we need to talk to each other, to remember what we've seen, and to warn those who haven't.

Our memories might be the most important defense democracy has left.