Tamara Taraciuk Broner, director of the Rule of Law program, participated in the podcast “Where Did the Migrant Crisis Come From?” on In the Room with Peter Bergen. She discussed the context and causes of the Venezuelan humanitarian and migration crisis, as well as the use of the lifting of US sanctions as leverage for fair elections.
Tamara Taraciuk Broner
Podcasts ˙
˙ In the Room with Peter Bergen
The Venezuelan opposition primaries saw a remarkable turnout, with over 2.3 million voters, resulting in María Corina Machado’s victory despite her disqualification by the regime. The Barbados Agreement and the lifting of US sanctions offer a potential breakthrough for establishing some electoral conditions. However, a transition of power cannot occur without a clear and coherent path forward beyond election day.
La urgencia de realizar un cambio político en Nicaragua, como resultado de la presión externa y la recuperación del espacio cívico nacional, va más allá de sacar a la dictadura Ortega-Murillo del poder.
Amid Venezuela’s crisis and the upcoming 2024 presidential elections, a potential opportunity for a democratic transition may emerge. The escalating authoritarianism, human rights abuses, and dire humanitarian situation underscore the critical importance of addressing these challenges while also identifying opportunities for transition to occur.
As Venezuela’s presidential elections, scheduled for 2024, draw closer, the international community’s attention is primarily focused on how to use leverage to ensure minimal electoral conditions. US high-level officials have publicly said they would ease some of the economic and political sanctions imposed on the country in exchange for meaningful concessions by Nicolas Maduro’s government, and there is clearly an ongoing back channel between US and Venezuelan authorities along these lines. While this discussion is essential, it often overshadows a vital aspect of the conversation—the plan for what comes next. No transition of power is possible without a clear path forward after election day.
President Donald Trump’s decision last month to increase sanctions on Cuba represents a strategic error with serious long-term repercussions for U.S. national security.
Venezuela’s stalemate will not last forever, but an immediate and easy return to democracy is highly unlikely. The quicker the opposition and its international supporters adapt their strategies to this hard reality, the sooner the country can begin to find a way out of this unprecedented crisis.
Michael Shifter, presidente del Diálogo Interamericano, ofreció una entrevista al programa La Tarde de NTN24 en la que conversó sobre la actual situación en Venezuela.