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).
The possibilities for broadly accepted legislative elections this year seem to be fading. Venezeula’s Supreme Court (TSJ) ruled last week that the National Assembly had failed to name new rectors to the directorate the National Electoral Council (CNE). It is …
The muted response reveals once again the political tight-rope walked by Juan Guaidó as he tries to attend to civil society and moderates’ demands to attend to the population’s needs, while keeping on board radicals who think any relief only helps Maduro. Opposition leader Antonio Ledezma, exiled in Madrid, tweeted that as long as Maduro's "poisonous regime" is in power "no health plan will be worthwhile."
Yesterday’s Supreme Justice Tribunal (TSJ) ruling declaring the legality of the National Assembly directorate led by Luis Párra and prohibiting parallel meetings of the Guaidó-led National Assembly reduces the possibility of fair elections.
Yesterday The Independent published our article calling on the European Union to further engage in the Venezuela crisis. Here is the key paragraph:
“The European Union has the potential to break through this tragic situation. If EU countries were to …
This week a paper we have been working on and presenting over the past year came out in print in a special issue in the European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
In it we use the social scientific …
Publicamos un artículo de opinión en El País el lunes, argumentando que un reenganche de la Unión Europea podría ser clave en forjar una solución en Venezuela. Aquí el párafo clave:
“La Unión Europea tiene potencial para romper este trágico …
I participated in a Q&A in the Inter-American Dialogue published yesterday along with Peter Hakim, Steve Ellner, Charles Shapiro, and Maria Velez de Berliner. Below is the question and my answer. The entire sequence can be accessed here.
Question: …
The Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign is impacting Venezuelan citizens, restricting their alternatives in ever evolving ways. On May 19, U.S. telecommunications giant AT&T announced it would be discontinuing DIRECTV service to Venezuela because it could not both avoid …
So far there has been no official response from Guaidó. He first had said the incursion was a staged fake, then acknowledged it was real but said they had no part in it. Now he will have to calm widespread discontent within the opposition and its allies, as well as calls for accountability.
