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).
Today the International Contact Group is meeting in Quito, Ecuador. Eight European countries as well as Costa Rica, Uruguay and Chile, as well as the Secretary General of the Caribbean Community. Seven of the representatives will be the foreign ministers …
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet gave a verbal report on Venezuela to the U.N. Human Rights Council. She asserted that government authorities had criminalized protest, that security forces had repressed protest and that they were helped in …
In the past month economist Francisco Rodriguez and political scientist Dorothy Kronick have each called for the creation of an “oil-for-food” or “oil-for-necessities” program to address the dramatic impact U.S. oil sanctions will have on the …
A massive power outage starting Thursday, March 7 left more than 80% of Venezuelans without electricity for close to 100 hours. The blackout left Caracas and other major cities entirely dark, except for those buildings and homes with their own …
I did an interview with KPFA Pacifica Radio, Berkeley this morning. The discussion focused on the electricity backout and US policy towards VZ. Listen to interview at 10:30.…
As the House Foreign Affairs Committee takes up important legislation related to the crisis in Venezuela, we take this occasion to offer some considerations regarding the most effective way to address both the political and humanitarian aspects of the crisis in Venezuela. It is important for Congress to stand against U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, as does H.R. 1004, the Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act. U.S. intervention would be counterproductive, costly, and would—above all—worsen the suffering of the Venezuelan people.
Juan Guaidó, the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly who has assumed the interim presidency returned to Venezuela on Monday. There had been much anticipation of his return given that he had a legal prohibition on leaving the country, with speculation …
The goal is a sustainable agreement that can change the relationship between the contenders, from enemies that cannot coexist to political competitors that can.
The Venezuelan opposition and its backers in the US government seem to have lost momentum in the past three days. On Monday the Lima Group of countries that since 2017 have worked together to try to pressure a return to …
I talked to Jerome McDonnell of WBEZ Worldview about the opposition’s failed effort to bring in humanitarian aid into Venezuela and where it leaves them. You can listen here.…
