[Ed. Note: This week, retired Venezuelan Gen. Hugo Carvajal was detained in Aruba at the request of U.S. authorities. Carvajal was the former head of Venezuelan military intelligence (DGIM) and a close confidante of the late Hugo Chávez. In 2008, he was designated by U.S Treasury as a "drug kingpin" for his ties to the Colombian narco-terrorist FARC. That year also, the highly respected Colombian magazine Semana published an exposé of Carvajal that reported on his...

The House of Representatives version of the Venezuela sanctions bill passed the full House on May 28th. Now a very similar bill is paralyzed in the Senate as senators continue debating whether or not such sanctions are worthwhile to pursue. Meanwhile, it is our understanding derived from various conversations with a number of members of Congress, that the White House and some Senators continue to oppose the bill. According to informal conversations with offices of some Senators, the main...

Iran, Cuba and Venezuela have developed a close and cooperative relationship against the U.S. and in support of terrorist groups and states. The three regimes increasingly coordinate their policies and resources in a three way partnership aimed at counteracting and circumventing U.S. policies in the Middle East and Latin America. Within this relationship, Cuba plays a strategic role in terms of geography (proximity to the U.S.), intelligence gathering (both electronic eavesdropping and human...

Women’s empowerment and political participation are not only crucial for women: they are essential for effective democratic governance, one which promotes human rights and equity. The same can be said about the importance of boosting youth political participation. The U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) invited three young women parliamentarians from Latin America and the Caribbean to join a recent discussion in Salamanca, Spain, on young women’s political participation in the...

Last week, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro took to the opinion pages of The New York Times to counter the bad press his government has received for its crackdown on widespread protests over the past two months. He the international media of having “distorted the reality” of Venezuela by portraying the protests as peaceful and the country’s democracy as “deficient.” Yet the steps he’s taken to respond to the protests at home have shown that the...

Many events have occurred since protests broke out in Venezuela several weeks ago, including the killing of 25 people by the government’s paramilitary. In addition, more than 1,000 people were arrested and others simply disappeared. Contrary to the Venezuelan president’s pronouncements, this protest movement is composed mostly of young people, not of fascists or the old “oligarchy”. They are not rich and they are not spoiled. These are young people who see no future in...

The crisis in Venezuela has escalated beyond the capacity of domestic actors to find a space for dialogue. Each party rejects the legitimacy of its rival. Human rights violations - and protester violence - are leaving deep wounds in Venezuelan society that will take years to heal. Not long ago, such an impasse would have prompted the immediate response of the international community and particularly of regional organisations such as the Organization of American States (OAS). But Latin America...

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “Let’s talk about Venezuela right now. You know that the President of Venezuela, he had some sharp words for you. He called you, and I’m translating from the Spanish, ‘the craziest of the crazies,’ because of your views on what’s going on in Venezuela right now. What should the U.S. be doing in Venezuela?” Senator Marco Rubio: “First of all, let me just say about this individual, Mr. Maduro, he’s someone who...

Political confrontation in Venezuela has turned violent in the past few days with the killing of six demonstrators, the injury of many more and a clampdown on civil liberties. This threatens to further erode stability and human rights in an already polarised nation facing acute economic crisis and where the homicide rate is one of the highest on earth. The government and the opposition must promptly find a way to foster a basic political dialogue. Ultimately, this dialogue - on the...

The students’ revolt that began last week in Venezuela will continue with a big demonstration on February 18th led by Leopoldo Lopez, the leader of the “Popular Will” Party. Mr. Lopez leads the demonstrations at a big risk to himself as he is now under an order of arrest by the Venezuelan government. The protests are not just about inflation, scarcity and poverty that now characterize the Venezuelan economy but also about repression and lack of freedom. In addition, it is...