On February 28 the Inter-American Dialogue’s Latin America Advisor had a Q&A on the government of Peru's decision to withdraw its invitation to Venezuela to participate in the upcoming Summit of the Americas. The question and my response is below. You can read responses from Mariano de Alba, Julia Buxton,…

On February 26 the Inter-American Dialogue’s Latin America Advisor had a Q&A on the impact of Venezuela's exodus and the regional response. The question and my response is below. You can read responses from Francisco Márquez and Maria Velez de Berliner here. Question: Brazil’s government is declaring an emergency in Roraima, in…

On February 21^st, the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center hosted an event highlighting the uncertainty in Venezuela as the country prepares for presidential elections slated for April 22.  What follows is a collection of notes on the speakers’ remarks, gathered by WOLA Venezuela intern Melissa Medina Márquez. A…

[On Friday, February 23 I participated in the “Venezuela: Charting the Future” symposium at Georgetown University. Below are my comments from the third panel which was called “The Challenges for Venezuelan Society.”] I would like to thank Father Matthew Carnes, Regina Trigo and Angelo Rivera for making this symposium…

Adam Isacson, WOLA Director for Defense Oversight, recently visited Cúcuta, Colombia, on the border with Venezuela.  According to Isacson:

"What we saw was powerful and upsetting—large number of Venezuelans crossing the border, carrying all their belongings in just a few pieces of luggage. People are doing whatever they can to get…

On February 7, Venezuelan electoral authorities officially confirmed that the country will hold presidential elections on April 22 in accordance with a National Constituent Assembly decree that mandated a vote in the first four months of 2018. Over the last year the Maduro government has slowly consolidated power, threatening Venezuela’s…

With the most important opposition candidates and parties disqualified, an electoral authority that has committed fraud twice over the past year, moved-up elections that break Venezuela’s election law and were called by the unconstitutional National Constituent Assembly (ANC), and innumerable other democratic deficits, Venezuela is now in a situation in which its population is no longer able to seek the change it desires. This is the type of situation in which regional and international countries have an important role in restoring Venezuelan’s democratic rights.

Venezuelan electoral authorities have officially confirmed that the country will hold presidential elections on April 22 in accordance with a National Constituent Assembly decree that mandated a vote in the first four months of 2018. Please join us on Friday, Feb. 16 as we assess the situation with Mike McCarthy and David Smilde, two leading experts the upcoming elections and the role they will play in upholding Venezuelan democracy.

On February 13, WOLA Assistant Director for Venezuela Geoff Ramsey spoke on the Understanding Latin American Politics Podcast, hosted by Greg Weeks, Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at UNC Charlotte. In the podcast, the two discuss the best international response to Venezuela's…

(Version en Español) Washington, D.C.— On February 7, talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition over the country’s ongoing political crisis were suspended, and the government of Nicolás Maduro is moving ahead with plans to hold presidential elections on April 22. Elections under rushed conditions without the