From what I've read it looks like Maduro's henchman (and son?) are now in charge of Venezuela. Doesn't really seem like a great improvement for people...

I spent some years in Latin America for work and a colleague told me the dilemmas of trying to rid the cartels from power.

You decide you want to remove a drug boss. Ok well he is 58 y/o, he has political connections, connections with law enforcement, etc....while all those things lead to corruption, they also tend to moderate him. Over the years he has learned to take care of problems in a more sophisticated way.....Well you want to clean house, so you take him out. His 40 y/o son takes over....so you take him out....his 33 y/o nephew takes over, so you take him out....pretty soon that cartel is run by 21 y/o running around with a machine gun thinking the solution to every problem is to start shooting. Eventually, after a long and bloody war, that cartel will be taken over by a rival. The competitor cartel just got stronger. In the end what really was achieved?

My take is nuanced (as I imagine yours is as well), but I think on-balance its probably good to take out Maduro and leave the supporting cast. You have at least moved the negotiation needle towards your side....they now know they are expendable.

Its not a great upgrade for the people, but at the end there is only so much that can be done. Taking out everyone in power is going to create a powder keg "gang war" scenario. Ultimately ridding a society from corruption needs to come from the people (and I 100% say that as an American who thinks we need to do the same with our own corruption).