# Cato Experts Warn Against Venezuela Regime Change in New American Conservative Op-Ed 

Historical precedent counsels restraint: American interventions from Woodrow Wilson’s incursion into Mexico to two-decade occupations of Nicaragua and Haiti produced costly failures that led Herbert Hoover and FDR to retrench.

October 29, 2025 • News Releases 

With the Trump administration deploying military assets to the Caribbean, Cato Institute scholars [Justin Logan](https://www.cato.org/people/justin-logan) and [Brandan Buck](https://www.cato.org/people/brandan-p-buck) warn in a [new American Conservative op-ed](https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dont-do-it-mr-president/) that U.S.-led regime change in Venezuela would contradict the president’s goal of being a peacemaker and risk Middle East-style quagmires.

Logan and Buck argue that the administration’s public rationale is flawed — fentanyl doesn’t come from Venezuela, and the targeted boats can’t reach the U.S.

Historical precedent counsels restraint: American interventions from Woodrow Wilson’s incursion into Mexico to two-decade occupations of Nicaragua and Haiti produced costly failures that led Herbert Hoover and FDR to retrench.

For interviews, contact: Madison: [mmiller@​cato.​org](mailto:mmiller@cato.org).

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