David Smilde, curator of the blog, is a WOLA Senior Fellow and the Charles A. and Leo M. Favrot Professor of Human Relations at Tulane University. He has lived in or worked on Venezuela since 1992. Professor Smilde has researched Venezuela for the past twenty years. He has taught at the Universidad Central de Venezuela and the Universidad Católica Ándres Bello. From 2010-2012 he was the Chair of the Venezuelan Studies Section of the Latin American Studies Association. He is currently working on a book manuscript called Venezuela’s Transition to Socialism: Politics and Human Rights under Chávez, 2008-2012. He is co-editor of Venezuela's Bolivarian Democracy: Participation, Politics and Culture under Chávez (Duke 2011).
Regional actors continue to take measures regarding Venezuela, and discuss what should be done. On Thursday, September 27 Organization of American States Secretary General argued that the international community had the “responsibility to protect,” Venezuela. He suggested that he would …
On a visit to the Colombian-Venezuelan border at Cúcuta, Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Luis Almagro suggested that military action in Venezuela could not be dismissed out of hand. “With respect to a military intervention to overthrow Nicolas …
In the midst of generally worsening relations in the region (see below), Nicolás Maduro travelled to China with first lady Cilia Flores. He said he was “going with great expectations and hopes to deepen relations with our sister republic.” His …
Yesterday I had the opportunity to discuss regional responses to the flood of migrants leaving Venezuela as well as international responses to Venezuela with Jerome McDonnell of WBEZ Worldview and Andreas Feldmann (University of Illinois, Chicago). …
[Due to my schedule, the Venezuela Weekly will be published mid-week from now until the end of 2018]
A regional meeting in Quito regarding the Venezuelan migration crisis, led to a declaration signed by eleven countries, with a …
As reported last week, both Peru and Ecuador announced new restrictions on Venezuelan migrants entering their national territories. The pushback regarding these measures has contributed to a push for integrated regional solutions.
The Peruvian government announced that starting August …
The crackdown following the August 4 drone attack on Maduro has dominated Venezuela news. Here is a summary of what is most essential.
No one knows whether the Maduro regime will last decades or days. But this drone attack should be a warning to international stakeholders. To achieve an orderly, democratic and nonviolent solution to the Venezuelan crisis, international pressure must be complemented by constructive engagement of both the government and opposition.
Over the weekend Venezuela news was dominated by the drone attack that interrupted Nicolás Maduro’s speech during the celebration of the 81st anniversary of Venezuela’s National Guard, and led soldiers to break formation and run for cover. The evidence …
Nicolás Maduro has announced that the rollout of new currency has been postponed to August 20 and that the Central Bank would be lopping off 5 zeros instead of three. Among other worries are what will happen to those items …
