Michael Shifter also found Trump’s Venezuela bluster to be quite harmful:

It now looks like the president has confused United States policy and given Mr. Maduro a gratuitous gift. Mr. Trump has thrown the opposition off balance, further alienated regional allies, and made his vice president clean up after him. Venezuelans will be the ones to suffer.

Most observers seem to agree that Trump’s statement was an unforced error that has already had serious consequences for Venezuelans and for U.S. diplomacy in the region and could have more in the weeks to come. It was also instructive in showing that seeking to intimidate another government by issuing threats normally boosts the other regime’s position at home and hurts that of the regime’s opponents. Even when threats from abroad are grossly inflated, they can be used to stifle dissent, crack down even harder on political opponents, and create a much-needed distraction for failing leaders. It makes an already difficult task for Maduro’s opponents even harder:

Amid the mounting tensions there has been no statement from the main opposition alliance or its leaders. Meanwhile, its website remains hacked for a second straight day with a photo of a finger-pointing Trump under the banner “I Want You to Kill Your Brothers and Sisters.”

Few things could be worse for the prospects of effective political protest and change than providing a regime’s leaders with the specter of U.S. intervention. We are seeing that unfold in Venezuela now, and we should remember that for the next political crisis when we start to hear demands that the U.S. “must act.”