Chalkboard Politics: What just happened in Venezuela?

In this episode of Chalkboard Politics, students sit down with Professors Eduardo Moncada, Sarah Daly, and Elizabeth Saunders to unpack how concepts like narco-terrorism, criminal governance, and credible commitment have, and continue to, shape U.S. policy toward Venezuela. Drawing on the legacy of the War on Drugs, the conversation challenges the argument that militarized intervention or leadership removal can dismantle illicit economies. Instead, our guests explore the relevance and role of patronage systems, the “balloon effect,” and the political incentives behind spectacular uses of force, while asking what all of this means for Venezuelan citizens, democracy, and regional sovereignty, and whether the Trump administration can actually get what it wants.

Episode’s Main Themes and Concepts: 

1. Narco-terrorism as a political label

• How the term emerged, why it is analytically imprecise when applied to Venezuela, and how it shapes the range of policy responses.
• Key terms: narco-terrorism; political labeling; securitization

2. Criminal governance vs. terrorism

• Why most cartels and illicit networks lack ideology, and how illicit economies function through governance, corruption, and regime survival rather than political violence.
• Key terms: illicit economy; criminal governance; patronage politics

3. Why military intervention is likely to fail 

• Why military intervention is unlikely to stop drug flows or democratize Venezuela, and how repression often displaces rather than eliminates illicit activity.
• Key terms: balloon effect; militarization; credible commitment, principal-agent problem

References and Suggested Reading: 

References:

1. Andreas, Peter. 2022. Border Games: The Politics of Policing the U.S.-Mexico Divide. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
2. Berman, Eli, and David A. Lake, eds. 2019. Proxy Wars: Suppressing Violence through Local Agents. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Further Reading: 

1. Andreas, Peter. 2025: The Illicit Global Economy: What Everyone Needs To Know. New York: Oxford University Press.
2. Daly, Sarah Zukerman. Organized Violence after Civil War: The Geography of Recruitment in Latin America. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
3. Daly, Sarah Zukerman. Violent Victors: Why Blood-Stained Parties Win Postwar Elections. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2022.
4. Daly, Sarah Zukerman, and Elena Barham. “A Bargaining Theory of Criminal War.” International Studies Quarterly68, no. 3 (2024): sqae083. https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqae083.
5. Moncada, Eduardo. Cities, Business, and the Politics of Urban Violence in Latin America. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2016.
6. Moncada, Eduardo. Resisting Extortion: Victims, Criminals, and States in Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021.

Follow the Chalkboard Politics Podcast: 

This episode of Chalkboard Politics comes to you via the Good Authority podcast feed. Listen, rate, and subscribe to the Good Authority Podcast. The Good Authority podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, and wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also follow Chalkboard Politics on Instagram and Bluesky.

Contact the Chalkboard Politics Team: 

If you have any comments or questions about today’s episode, or ideas for future segments, please email us at chalkboardpolitics@columbia.edu.