Orlando J. Pérez
@perez1oj.bsky.social
Professor of Political Science @ University of North Texas at Dallas. Writing about Latin America, civil-military relations, democracy, security, and public opinion.
Traveling as much as time permits! 🌎✈️
Traveling as much as time permits! 🌎✈️
#Trump’s #BoardOfPeace isn’t a peace project. It’s a coalition of illiberal regimes. Using #freedomhouse (FIW 2025), only 3 of 26 members are Free; 10 are Partly Free; 13 are Not Free. Median score: 32/100. That’s not peacekeeping, it’s executive dealmaking with human rights optional.
January 28, 2026 at 1:50 PM
#Trump’s #BoardOfPeace isn’t a peace project. It’s a coalition of illiberal regimes. Using #freedomhouse (FIW 2025), only 3 of 26 members are Free; 10 are Partly Free; 13 are Not Free. Median score: 32/100. That’s not peacekeeping, it’s executive dealmaking with human rights optional.
The problem is that spectacle can crowd out legality and accountability. When enforcement becomes a performance metric, due process looks like an obstacle and rights become conditional. Over time, that logic normalizes emergency rule, mass detention, and outsourced coercion.
January 24, 2026 at 10:16 PM
The problem is that spectacle can crowd out legality and accountability. When enforcement becomes a performance metric, due process looks like an obstacle and rights become conditional. Over time, that logic normalizes emergency rule, mass detention, and outsourced coercion.
“Performative punitivism” is punishment as political theater: leaders stage harshness to signal control, win approval, and shift debate away from the hard work of governance. The point isn’t just deterrence. It’s optics—viral images, tough slogans, and a simplified story of “order restored.”
January 24, 2026 at 10:16 PM
“Performative punitivism” is punishment as political theater: leaders stage harshness to signal control, win approval, and shift debate away from the hard work of governance. The point isn’t just deterrence. It’s optics—viral images, tough slogans, and a simplified story of “order restored.”
My latest, “In a post-Maduro Venezuela, the U.S. project amounts to managed authoritarianism: continuity government, calibrated repression, and transactional compliance, with transition reduced to timetable management rather than any democratization.”
warontherocks.com/2026/01/afte...
warontherocks.com/2026/01/afte...
After Maduro: Trump’s Managed Authoritarianism Trap in Venezuela
It’s early days, but the Trump administration’s approach to a post-President Nicolás Maduro Venezuela is quickly coming into focus. This is not externally
warontherocks.com
January 13, 2026 at 12:30 PM
My latest, “In a post-Maduro Venezuela, the U.S. project amounts to managed authoritarianism: continuity government, calibrated repression, and transactional compliance, with transition reduced to timetable management rather than any democratization.”
warontherocks.com/2026/01/afte...
warontherocks.com/2026/01/afte...
Reposted by Orlando J. Pérez
“Es difícil ver cuándo y cómo llegamos a un gobierno legítimo electo democráticamente”, asegura el profesor @perez1oj.bsky.social de la Universidad del Norte de Texas.
¿Cuál es la situación actual de Venezuela?
🎧 Escucha aquí: elhilo.audio/279
¿Cuál es la situación actual de Venezuela?
🎧 Escucha aquí: elhilo.audio/279
January 10, 2026 at 2:10 PM
“Es difícil ver cuándo y cómo llegamos a un gobierno legítimo electo democráticamente”, asegura el profesor @perez1oj.bsky.social de la Universidad del Norte de Texas.
¿Cuál es la situación actual de Venezuela?
🎧 Escucha aquí: elhilo.audio/279
¿Cuál es la situación actual de Venezuela?
🎧 Escucha aquí: elhilo.audio/279
Reposted by Orlando J. Pérez
¿Es la captura de Nicolás Maduro el fin de un régimen o la continuación del chavismo sin su principal figura?
Esta semana analizamos con @perez1oj.bsky.social, profesor de la Universidad del Norte de Texas, el ataque militar de Estados Unidos a Venezuela y sus implicaciones.
🎧 elhilo.audio/279
Esta semana analizamos con @perez1oj.bsky.social, profesor de la Universidad del Norte de Texas, el ataque militar de Estados Unidos a Venezuela y sus implicaciones.
🎧 elhilo.audio/279
January 9, 2026 at 11:41 AM
¿Es la captura de Nicolás Maduro el fin de un régimen o la continuación del chavismo sin su principal figura?
Esta semana analizamos con @perez1oj.bsky.social, profesor de la Universidad del Norte de Texas, el ataque militar de Estados Unidos a Venezuela y sus implicaciones.
🎧 elhilo.audio/279
Esta semana analizamos con @perez1oj.bsky.social, profesor de la Universidad del Norte de Texas, el ataque militar de Estados Unidos a Venezuela y sus implicaciones.
🎧 elhilo.audio/279
I argue, "U.S. messaging right now is going in the wrong direction. Talk of “running” Venezuela is politically toxic across Latin America and strategically counterproductive inside #Venezuela." www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
Maduro’s arrest will not deliver democracy unless Washington changes course
Nicolas Maduro’s arrest will not deliver democracy unless Washington changes course. A loyalist-led transition would leave Venezuela unstable and the U.S....
www.dallasnews.com
January 7, 2026 at 10:43 AM
I argue, "U.S. messaging right now is going in the wrong direction. Talk of “running” Venezuela is politically toxic across Latin America and strategically counterproductive inside #Venezuela." www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
Reposted by Orlando J. Pérez
President Trump shocked the nation and the world early Saturday when he announced that the U.S. had captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and intended to “run the country.” Here’s what we know.
What We Know About the U.S. Operation in Venezuela
U.S. forces carried out an audacious raid on the country’s capital, seizing President Nicolás Maduro. President Trump said the United States now intends to “run” Venezuela.
nyti.ms
January 3, 2026 at 8:40 PM
President Trump shocked the nation and the world early Saturday when he announced that the U.S. had captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and intended to “run the country.” Here’s what we know.
The actions in #Venezuela this morning are clear indications that the #Trump Corollary has made Latin Americans virtual spectators in the geopolitics of their region. The US is again exercising international “police” powers. The signal is clear: Latin America is “our backyard.”
January 3, 2026 at 4:20 PM
The actions in #Venezuela this morning are clear indications that the #Trump Corollary has made Latin Americans virtual spectators in the geopolitics of their region. The US is again exercising international “police” powers. The signal is clear: Latin America is “our backyard.”
I wrote for The Dallas Morning News: "Put together, the pardon and the interference tell #Hondurans something corrosive: What matters in Washington is not your rule of law, but your loyalty."
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
December 15, 2025 at 4:23 PM
I wrote for The Dallas Morning News: "Put together, the pardon and the interference tell #Hondurans something corrosive: What matters in Washington is not your rule of law, but your loyalty."
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
And Crockett’s ambition & hubris led her to fall for it! 🙄
www.notus.org/senate/jasmi...
www.notus.org/senate/jasmi...
An ‘AstroTurf Recruitment Process’: National Republicans Propped Up Jasmine Crockett to Push Her Into a Senate Run
The NRSC started including Crockett’s name in polling and conducted “a sustained effort” to get Crockett, the party’s preferred candidate to run against, into the race.
www.notus.org
December 10, 2025 at 6:44 PM
And Crockett’s ambition & hubris led her to fall for it! 🙄
www.notus.org/senate/jasmi...
www.notus.org/senate/jasmi...
Both Republicans & Democrats are working hard to lose the Texas Senate race. Paxton might be the only Republican who can lose the seat, but Crockett might be the only Democrat Paxton can beat! M.A.D! 🙄
December 8, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Both Republicans & Democrats are working hard to lose the Texas Senate race. Paxton might be the only Republican who can lose the seat, but Crockett might be the only Democrat Paxton can beat! M.A.D! 🙄
2/ Migration is recast as an existential threat. The document declares “the era of mass migration is over” and elevates border control to the core of national security. That logic underpins deals that outsource detention, asylum processing, and enforcement to regional partners.
December 5, 2025 at 7:47 PM
2/ Migration is recast as an existential threat. The document declares “the era of mass migration is over” and elevates border control to the core of national security. That logic underpins deals that outsource detention, asylum processing, and enforcement to regional partners.
1/ Democracy barely figures in the new National Security Strategy. The "#Trump Corollary" formalizes a sphere-of-influence order in the Americas, built on enforcement rather than institutions. What counts is coercive capacity and alignment. whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
December 5, 2025 at 7:47 PM
1/ Democracy barely figures in the new National Security Strategy. The "#Trump Corollary" formalizes a sphere-of-influence order in the Americas, built on enforcement rather than institutions. What counts is coercive capacity and alignment. whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
Is Trump about to go to war with #Venezuela?
I told the @abcnewsaustralia.bsky.social
"That gap between rhetoric and reality is where bad decisions get made."
Listen to the rest 👇
podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/i...
I told the @abcnewsaustralia.bsky.social
"That gap between rhetoric and reality is where bad decisions get made."
Listen to the rest 👇
podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/i...
Is Trump about to go to war with Venezuela?
Podcast Episode · ABC News Daily · 04/12/2025 · 16m
podcasts.apple.com
December 4, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Is Trump about to go to war with #Venezuela?
I told the @abcnewsaustralia.bsky.social
"That gap between rhetoric and reality is where bad decisions get made."
Listen to the rest 👇
podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/i...
I told the @abcnewsaustralia.bsky.social
"That gap between rhetoric and reality is where bad decisions get made."
Listen to the rest 👇
podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/i...
To understand why #Trump is pardoning @JuanOrlandoH, follow the $: “he turned to friends of Rubio for help … signed a deal with lobbying firm BGR Group to buttress his image as a dedicated ally and an implacable foe of organized crime.” www.vice.com/en/article/a...
Alleged Narco President Hires GOP Lobbyists to Sing His Praises in Washington
Despite the mounting evidence against Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, Republican legislators have yet to drop their support for him.
www.vice.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:55 AM
To understand why #Trump is pardoning @JuanOrlandoH, follow the $: “he turned to friends of Rubio for help … signed a deal with lobbying firm BGR Group to buttress his image as a dedicated ally and an implacable foe of organized crime.” www.vice.com/en/article/a...
So Trump is getting “tough” on drug trafficking by pardoning a convicted drug trafficker, former president of #Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández. Pardon a right-wing trafficker & topple a left-wing one, seems to be the policy! 🙄😓
November 28, 2025 at 10:38 PM
So Trump is getting “tough” on drug trafficking by pardoning a convicted drug trafficker, former president of #Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández. Pardon a right-wing trafficker & topple a left-wing one, seems to be the policy! 🙄😓
I write in @dallasmorningnews.bsky.social, “If Washington wants to help #Honduras avoid the fate of its authoritarian neighbors, it must act with clarity, consistency and restraint.” None of which the Trump adminitration is known for. www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
Honduras is not Venezuela — but Washington shouldn’t get this wrong
Honduras is a fragile democracy. A smart U.S. diplomacy is required as the presidential election approach
www.dallasnews.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:19 PM
I write in @dallasmorningnews.bsky.social, “If Washington wants to help #Honduras avoid the fate of its authoritarian neighbors, it must act with clarity, consistency and restraint.” None of which the Trump adminitration is known for. www.dallasnews.com/opinion/comm...
“For all the deadly weapons floating off the coast, it seems increasingly clear that all the Trump administration’s push for regime change in #Venezuela has done so far is create a potentially disastrous political trap.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/o...
Opinion | I’m in Venezuela. This Is the True Cost of Trump’s Gunboat Diplomacy.
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:08 PM
“For all the deadly weapons floating off the coast, it seems increasingly clear that all the Trump administration’s push for regime change in #Venezuela has done so far is create a potentially disastrous political trap.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/o...
Regime change in #Venezuela isn’t a “weekend mission.” Any use of force has to reckon with coup-proofed security services, regional politics, and the costs of “the day after,” not just #Maduro. I unpack the military & political realities, @warontherocks.bsky.social warontherocks.com/2025/11/the-...
The Day After: What Successful Regime Change in Venezuela Would Really Take
What if the “counternarcotics” strikes against boats suspected of moving drugs aren’t really about cocaine at all, but about toppling Venezuelan President
warontherocks.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Regime change in #Venezuela isn’t a “weekend mission.” Any use of force has to reckon with coup-proofed security services, regional politics, and the costs of “the day after,” not just #Maduro. I unpack the military & political realities, @warontherocks.bsky.social warontherocks.com/2025/11/the-...
From Nepal to Mexico City, Gen Z keeps emerging as the real opposition: organized, furious, and unwilling to treat corruption and violence as background noise. Parties can try to ride this wave, but they did not create it and may not be able to control it.
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Thousands protest crime and corruption in Mexico City as ‘Gen Z’ protests gain momentum
The demonstration was mostly peaceful but ended with some young people clashing with the police.
www.politico.com
November 16, 2025 at 3:27 PM
From Nepal to Mexico City, Gen Z keeps emerging as the real opposition: organized, furious, and unwilling to treat corruption and violence as background noise. Parties can try to ride this wave, but they did not create it and may not be able to control it.
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
It seems it’s dawning on some in DC that this #Venezuela adventure is more complex & the politics more difficult than saying: Maduro=bad; Machado=good; Tomahawks=coup->💨 democracy! @POTUS wanted to blow sh*t up, get a quick win & move on.The minute things got complicated he got cold feet. 🤷🏻♂️
November 7, 2025 at 9:07 PM
It seems it’s dawning on some in DC that this #Venezuela adventure is more complex & the politics more difficult than saying: Maduro=bad; Machado=good; Tomahawks=coup->💨 democracy! @POTUS wanted to blow sh*t up, get a quick win & move on.The minute things got complicated he got cold feet. 🤷🏻♂️
Thanks @QuincyInst @RStatecraft for publishing my piece on the risks of escalation in #Venezuela. “A wiser approach for Washington is to prioritize intelligence sharing and law enforcement cooperation with allies — rather than rely on … kinetic strikes.”
responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-venezu...
responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-venezu...
With Venezuela, Trump poised to make mistake of epic proportions
News that the administration may greenlight attacks inside the country, even remove Maduro, is already causing panic. It should.
responsiblestatecraft.org
November 5, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Thanks @QuincyInst @RStatecraft for publishing my piece on the risks of escalation in #Venezuela. “A wiser approach for Washington is to prioritize intelligence sharing and law enforcement cooperation with allies — rather than rely on … kinetic strikes.”
responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-venezu...
responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-venezu...