Venezuela’s longest-ever blackout, which began on March 7 and lasted until at least March 12 in most of the country, aggravated an already dire humanitarian situation. Lisa Viscidi presented to a special meeting of the OAS Permanent Council about how grave government mismanagement of the power sector debilitated Venezuela’s grid, making electricity rationing a routine and power failures commonplace.
The newly appointed President and CEO of the Inter-American Dialogue, Rebecca Bill Chavez, spoke with the Washington Diplomat about her new role and the most urgent priorities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Prominent among her concerns was the retrogression of democracy across the region, with a pointed focus on Venezuela.
On September 30, 2020, the Inter-American Dialogue hosted “Venezuela’s Humanitarian and Human Rights Crises-The Search for Innovative Responses” to discuss the current humanitarian situation as well as present the findings of the Dialogue’s Rule of Law Program’s report, Corruption and Crisis in Venezuela: Asset Repatriation for Humanitarian Relief.
Estados Unidos ha dado un nuevo paso inusual en su política hacia Venezuela, al acusar al presidente Nicolás Maduro de “narcoterrorismo” y conspiración para traficar drogas. Michael Shifter, entrevistado por BBC, argumentó que los nuevos cargos de EE.UU. contra Maduro difícilmente contribuirán a una salida negociada en Venezuela.
Michael Shifter discussed in Minneapolis for Global Minnesota the complex and often strained relations between the US and Latin America including a look at immigration and trade policies, the reversal of the Cuban thaw, the Trump administration’s return to a more militant war on drugs, and the implications of recent developments with Venezuela and China.
In January, the surprising emergence of Juan Guaidó as the opposition’s leader was followed by months of frenetic activity on the Venezuela crisis. Today there seems to be a pause in the high drama. It is in this context that former Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet, now the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, is making a three-day visit to Venezuela. Although it is hard to predict the final result of the visit, there is little doubt that both sides of this tragic and protracted stalemate will seek to take maximum political advantage.
Over the past two weeks, Spain has become an accidental protagonist in the diplomatic efforts to end Venezuela’s crises. The good news is that Spain is well-positioned to lead the effort to restore democracy in Venezuela. The bad news is that the Spanish government is deeply conflicted about what to do. But there are five clear ways that Spain can demonstrate that the democratic cause in Venezuela is not just a guise for U.S. adventurism.
A lack of transmission-line maintenance may have been the immediate trigger for the power outage that left much of Venezuela in darkness on March 7, but it is a symptom of almost two decades of government mismanagement that has debilitated Venezuela’s power sector, draining its reserves of both human and financial capital and nudging it towards collapse.
The U.S. president needs to keep cooperating closely with Mexico, steer clear of any military action in Venezuela and refrain from bullying his partners and allies in the region.
On March 21, 2019 the Inter-American Dialogue hosted former defense minister and former Colombian ambassador to the United States Juan Carlos Pinzón for a private conversation with dialogue staff, representatives from other think-tanks and news outlets.
No one should be worried about American military action anywhere in Latin America. The notion is risible. But President Trump’s cavalier remark last week referring to a “possible military option” to deal with the increasingly dictatorial regime led by President Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela has real consequences.
Energy Program Director Lisa Viscidi went on CGTN to discuss the latest developments in the increasingly international debate over how to peacefully resolve the crisis in embattled Venezuela.
The Inter-American Dialogue co-hosted an event with President Ivan Duque Marquez called “Colombia’s Domestic and Regional Opportunities and Challenges.”
In what ways could mediation play out and bring a peaceful end to the standoff? How likely is wide-scale bloodshed, civil war or international military intervention to occur in the weeks ahead?
Sergio Bitar, Abraham Lowenthal, Evan Ellis, Bartłomiej Znojek
