Southwest
Former Miss Venezuela blames ‘socialism and open borders’ for her country’s devastating collapse
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Americans unfamiliar with Venezuela may not know that in the not-so-distant past the nation was rich with oil and opportunity.
Congressional candidate Carmen Maria Montiel remembers a Venezuela that brimmed with optimism — before decades of political and economic turmoil turned it into one of the hemisphere’s poorest nations.
“Socialism and open borders,” Montiel told Fox News Digital in an interview, are what sent her country into decline.
The Houston-area Republican won the Miss Venezuela title at age 19 in 1984 and later finished as a runner-up for Miss Universe. But long before her pageant fame, she says, Venezuela’s political foundations were already beginning to crack.
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Venezuela-born Carmen Maria Montiel 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 got the influx of illegal immigrants, crime went up, 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 for a vertical growth of the population.”
Montiel came to the U.S. for college in 1988, hoping the unrest at home would ease. Instead, she watched from abroad as Hugo Chávez led two coup attempts in 1992, and the country erupted in riots and looting.
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Carmen Maria Montiel won the Miss Venezuela pageant in 1984. (Carmen Montiel )
“I decided I’m gonna stay a little longer, see if things get better,” she said. “But they never did.”
From Chávez’s failed coup to Nicolás Maduro’s current hold on power, Montiel sees a straight line — one she says runs through corruption, cartel influence and foreign alliances with Russia and Iran.
“Communism always runs out of money,” Montiel said. “Even in a rich country like Venezuela, oil production collapsed, and what was left for them 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 sent her country into decline. (Carmen Montiel )
U.S. officials have long accused members of Maduro’s inner circle of involvement in narcotics trafficking, particularly through the Cartel de los Soles — a network of Venezuelan military officers implicated in smuggling cocaine to North America and Europe. Washington has also sanctioned dozens of Venezuelan officials for corruption and ties to terrorist groups, though Caracas denies the charges.
Montiel supports the recent U.S. military strikes targeting alleged drug-trafficking networks off Venezuela’s coast and believes they are justified given the threat she says the regime poses to the United States.
“Venezuela presents a very high risk to the United States,” she said. “It’s the drug trafficking, the Tren de Aragua trafficking … the problems that many Venezuelan people escaped, now we’re facing in the United States.”
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Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores parade in a military vehicle during celebrations for the Independence Day, in Caracas on July 5, 2025. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)
The Department of War has conducted 14 lethal strikes on vessels allegedly smuggling narcotics toward U.S. shores over the past two months.
In Montiel’s view, dismantling cartel networks and exposing the Venezuelan military’s complicity are essential steps toward toppling the regime. “This is a criminal communist regime and we should never remove the word ‘communist,’” she said.
At the same time, the U.S. has intensified 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 have questioned whether the widening military campaign may have a deeper objective: pushing Venezuela’s socialist leader from power.
The U.S. has conducted 14 strikes on drug vessels since September. (X.com/SecWar)
A U.S. intervention aimed at removing Maduro would likely divide Americans still wary of foreign entanglements. But Montiel insists Venezuelans themselves would welcome it.
“The people that are still in Venezuela are supporters of President Donald Trump because they’re screaming for freedom,” she said. “They’re screaming to get out of the situation.”
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Still, she acknowledges that removing the regime alone won’t rebuild the country.
“The country is pretty much destroyed,” she said. “It’s worse than any third world country. It’s going to take probably 30 years to get Venezuela back to what it used to be.”
Montiel is running in the Nov. 4, 2025, special election for Texas’ 18th Congressional district, a heavily Democratic Houston seat left vacant after the death of Sylvester Turner.
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Los Angeles, Ca
Victims sought after man allegedly points gun at passing cars in Santa Clarita Valley
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help finding witnesses after a man allegedly pointed a handgun at numerous passing cars in Castaic on June 18.
The man was allegedly seen pointing the gun at cars near Lake Hughes Road and Ridge Route Road between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The suspect was described as wearing a red shirt and black shorts.
Authorities provided a photo of the man seen running in the street while holding something in his left hand.
Anyone who may have witnessed the alleged assaults, is a victim of the incident or has information about the case is asked to call Detective Marinelli at (661) 260-4000 ext. 5618.
Los Angeles, Ca
Sweltering heat wave to grip Southern California next week
Southern California is enjoying a comfortable stretch of below-average temperatures that should continue through Father’s Day, but a strong heat wave is looming.
A significant warming trend will begin early next week before peaking Wednesday and Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
“Another one of those ridges of high pressure is expected to build in, with temperatures really heating up,” KTLA’s Kirk Hawkins said. “We’re looking at temperatures reaching triple digits in parts of the High Desert and Inland Empire as well.”
An extreme heat watch has been issued for parts of Los Angeles County, including Woodland Hills, Pomona, Pasadena, Santa Clarita and other areas, from Tuesday morning through Thursday evening.
Temperatures in those areas could range from the upper 80s to 100 degrees.
The Weather Service suggested the following actions:
- Continue to monitor the latest forecasts, as the amount of heating is still uncertain
- Adjust plans now to stay cool next week
- Check in with elderly neighbors and family members to ensure they are aware of the hot forecast
The high-pressure system is expected to weaken on Thursday, bringing cooler temperatures as we head into next weekend.
Los Angeles, Ca
Armed, dangerous CHP pursuit suspect tied to double homicide in Pomona
A 48-year-old man who led law enforcement on a dangerous pursuit lasting more than an hour is in custody in connection with the shooting deaths of a man and a woman at an upscale Pomona apartment complex Thursday, police announced.
Officers with the Pomona Police Department responded to the Monterey Station Apartments, located at 180 E. Monterey Ave., near North Garey Avenue, just before 3:30 p.m. on reports of a shooting, according to a department news release.
Police, along with responding Los Angeles County firefighters, found the two victims in a fourth-floor apartment.
Paramedics immediately began life-saving measures, but both victims were ultimately declared dead at the scene, investigators said.
Neighbors told KTLA’s Mary Beth McDade that the suspected shooter, Robert Galtman of Pomona, shot his girlfriend and another resident of the apartment complex.
“He shot the girl, that was the girlfriend,” one woman, a resident of the building who did not want to give her name, told KTLA. “I know them because he had tried to hit on me and told me the situation that she was beating him up and that she cheated on him with this guy, the one that was killed.”
Authorities were searching Galtman, who was believed to be in dark-colored sedan that fled the apartments northbound on Towne Avenue near Holt Avenue.
Just before 5 p.m., officers with the California Highway Patrol spotted his vehicle traveling northbound on the 5 Freeway, officials confirmed to KTLA. When officers attempted a traffic stop, he failed to yield and led authorities on a high-speed pursuit that lasted more than an hour.
During the pursuit, he made a U-turn on the freeway and headed southbound before exiting in Castaic and taking Lake Hughes Road through the hills toward the Antelope Valley.
Sky5 was over the dangerous chase as Galtman was seen tossing unknown items from the vehicle, including some type of liquid, swerving dangerously onto the shoulder and refusing to stop as at least four CHP units followed closely behind.
He initially dodged several spike strips deployed by officers, at one point driving on the shoulder in Lancaster before clipping one of the strips with the vehicle’s left side, causing both tires to deflate.
Still refusing to stop, Galtman continued at about 30 mph until a CHP officer accelerated and performed a PIT maneuver that spun the vehicle and disabled it.
He was quickly surrounded by officers with guns drawn but did not immediately comply.
Following law enforcement commands, Galtman exited the vehicle, surrendered and was taken into custody.
The identities of the two victims are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Authorities have not released a motive in the deadly shooting. The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to contact the Pomona Police Department’s Detective Bureau at 909-620-2085.
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