The human rights situation in Venezuela significantly worsened in the last year, according to the recently released 2024 State Department Human Rights Report. In particular, after the July 2024, presidential election, Nicolás Maduro and his representatives engaged in serious human rights abuses, reaching “a new milestone in the degradation of the rule of law,” according to the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela. No credible steps or actions were taken to identify and punish officials who committed human rights abuses. “The Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela. “Maduro is not a legitimate president; he is a fugitive from this drug cartel.”