Let's learn from Venezuela to Protect our Democracy

As a Venezuelan (and now US citizen) people keep telling me, "but we're not Venezuela" but let me remind you that we in Venezuela kept saying "but we're not Cuba." We never thought our Constitution would be changed so drastically for the worse - but it did slowly - and LEGALLY - over a period of time. It changed in favor of an ego-centric leader who became a dictator and turned our beautiful, rich, oil-producing country into a major humanitarian and economic crisis. We never thought that our flag would change! We never thought our history books could be re-written! I urge all Americans - we shouldn't worry about what our new President has done, but what he could potentially do. We need to understand, have empathy for WHY he was elected, work to fix those problems, and urge our leadership - republicans and democrats alike - to examine every proposed amendment to change the constitution very carefully through the lens of the long term impact it will have on our democracy. I may never see Venezuela recover in my lifetime, but we still have the chance to keep our great United States' democracy in tact.