Letters: Protesters should celebrate a new beginning for Venezuela

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We should celebrateVenezuela’s new start

Re: “Protests decry Trump’s actions” (Page A1, Jan. 5).

How I would love to send the Bay Area protesters to South Florida, where residents are celebrating President Trump’s intervention in Venezuela. President Nicolás Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, are responsible for “one of the most dramatic political, economic and humanitarian collapses in modern history,” according to a Miami Herald piece (“Venezuela left to grapple with wreckage Maduro leaves behind“) published Sunday.

Both the Bay Area protesters and the Florida revelers are waving Venezuelan flags. My heart lies with the latter, along with the nearly 8 million exiled Venezuelans.

I hope President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will leave Venezuela a better place than it has been since Chávez was elected in 1998, which eventually led to Maduro replacing democracy with autocracy.

Irvin DawidBurlingame

US should guardagainst adversaries

Re: “U.S. will use oil leverage in Venezuela, Rubio says” (Page A7, Jan. 5).

This past weekend, President Trump referred to the State of the Union address by our fifth president, James Monroe, to Congress back on Dec. 2, 1823, which warned European powers not to interfere in the affairs of the Americas.

In true Trump fashion, he reminded us that “they now call it the Donroe Doctrine” by adding the first letter of his name. It is an important time to consider the subsequent 1904 Roosevelt Corollary, which reinforced a U.S. responsibility to get involved with Latin American countries to prevent European interference, following Venezuela’s 1902-3 crisis, in which it refused to pay its debts back to Europe.

America would do well to prevent the likes of Russia, China and Iran from developing military capabilities in our backyard.

Akeem MostamandySan Jose

Teachers at underfundedschools deserve praise

Re: “South Bay high schools achieve ‘perfection’” (Page A6, Jan. 2).

A recent letter praised the Los Gatos-Saratoga high schools for achieving “perfection” based on certain state standards. Good for them; yes, keep up the good work.

I am a retired high school teacher who taught for over 30 years in a relatively poor district. Our teachers worked hard and diligently to teach those who had little outside support. We didn’t become perfect, but we did a darn good job and made a positive difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of kids.

It is easy to create a good public school: Choose a wealthy area, like Los Gatos/Saratoga, or choose your students, as Lowell High School did in San Francisco.

Congratulations, you who achieve perfection. Greater congratulations to you who faithfully toil in the trenches, with few resources, to fight against the darkness of ignorance.

Normando OrtezEast Palo Alto

Readers deserveRoadshow successor

It’s been more than two years since the death of Gary Richards, who wrote the Mercury News “Mr. Roadshow” column. We miss Gary and his gentle soul terribly, What he did was important to the Bay Area. No one can replace him, of course, but someone must succeed him, whether under that moniker or a new one.

Chuck MartinSan Jose

California sells outworkers who make tips

President Trump’s federal “no tax on tips” policy delivers vital relief to hardworking service workers, shielding their tipped earnings from income taxes.

Shockingly, Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Democrats have sabotaged this by blocking a bill to exempt tips from state taxes for low-wage heroes like servers and bartenders. In an era of crushing inflation and lingering pandemic pain, this greedy grab prioritizes bloated state coffers over struggling families, widening inequality.

Why rob Californians of relief that other states are rushing to provide? This betrayal isn’t just unfair — it’s a direct assault on the workers Democrats pretend to champion. Demand better now.

Michael LelieurSanta Cruz County Republican Party chairmanSanta Cruz