Former Miss Venezuela blames socialism for her country’s demise

Americans unfamiliar with Venezuela may not know that in the not-so-distant past, the country was rich in oil and opportunity.

Congressional candidate Carmen Maria Montiel remembers a Venezuela brimming with optimism – before decades of political and economic turmoil transformed it into one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere.

“Socialism and open borders,” Montiel told Fox News Digital in an interview, is what has plunged his country into decline.

The Houston-area Republican won the title of Miss Venezuela at the age of 19 in 1984 and later finished runner-up for Miss Universe. But long before her fame, she says, Venezuela’s political foundations were already beginning to crack.

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Carmen Maria Montiel, born in Venezuela, is running for Congress as a Republican in Texas. (Fox News Digital)

While the nation remained a democracy for decades, two socialist parties dominated power.

“We had an influx of illegal immigrants, crime increased and drugs started to be a problem,” she said. “The first thing they destroyed was the healthcare system. Venezuela used to have one of the most wonderful healthcare systems: it was paid for, it was our social security. Because the country was so rich, it provided so many services to the Venezuelan people. And of course, no country has the infrastructure to grow its population vertically.”

Montiel arrived in the United States for college in 1988, hoping that the unrest in his country would subside. Instead, she watched from abroad as Hugo Chavez led two coup attempts in 1992 and the country erupted into riots and looting.

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Carmen Maria Montiel won the Miss Venezuela pageant in 1984. (Carmen Montiel)

“I decided to stay a little longer, to see if things improve,” she said. “But they never did.”

From Chávez’s failed coup to Nicolas Maduro’s current rule, Montiel sees a straight line – one that she says runs through corruption, cartel influence and foreign alliances with Russia and Iran.

“Communism is still short of money,” Montiel said. “Even in a rich country like Venezuela, oil production collapsed and what they had left was crime. That’s why they joined the cartels: it’s a criminal communist regime.”

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“Socialism and open borders,” Montiel says, are what plunged his country into decline. (Carmen Montiel)

U.S. officials have long accused those close to Maduro of being involved in drug trafficking, including through the Cartel de los Soles, a network of Venezuelan military officers involved in smuggling cocaine to North America and Europe. Washington has also sanctioned dozens of Venezuelan officials for corruption and links to terrorist groups, although Caracas denies the accusations.

Montiel supports recent U.S. military strikes targeting suspected drug trafficking networks off the coast of Venezuela and believes they are justified given the threat she says the regime poses to the United States.

“Venezuela poses a very high risk to the United States,” she said. “It’s drug trafficking, Tren de Aragua trafficking…the problems that many Venezuelans have escaped, we are now facing in the United States.”

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores parade in a military vehicle during Independence Day celebrations, in Caracas, July 5, 2025. (JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images)

The War Department has carried out 14 deadly strikes against ships suspected of smuggling narcotics to U.S. shores in the past two months.

According to Montiel, dismantling cartel networks and revealing the complicity of the Venezuelan military are essential steps towards overthrowing the regime. “This is a criminal communist regime and we should never remove the word ‘communist,'” she said.

At the same time, the United States has stepped up pressure on Maduro, whom it does not recognize as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. The Justice Department is offering a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.

Analysts wonder whether the broadening military campaign could have a deeper goal: driving Venezuela’s socialist leader from power.

The United States has carried out 14 strikes against drug-carrying ships since September. (X.com/SecWar)

A U.S. intervention to remove Maduro would likely divide Americans still wary of foreign interference. But Montiel insists that Venezuelans themselves would appreciate it.

“People who are still in Venezuela support President Donald Trump because they are screaming for freedom,” she said. “They are screaming to get out of the situation.”

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She nevertheless recognizes that the overthrow of the regime will not be enough to rebuild the country.

“The country is practically destroyed,” she said. “It’s worse than any third world country. It will probably take 30 years to bring Venezuela back to what it was.”

Montiel is running in the Nov. 4, 2025, special election for Texas’ 18th Congressional District, a heavily Democratic seat in Houston left vacant after the death of Sylvester Turner.