While an opposition faction seeks to expand systemic pockets of power and another views abstention as a moral imperative, the May mega-vote is all about their inability to sustain unity
Five months after the Maduro regime seized Grupo Lamar—Venezuela’s largest shrimp exporter, accused by Diosdado Cabello of plotting a coup—one of its main plants goes up in flames #NowWhatVenezuela
Jorge Bergoglio’s careful approach toward the Venezuela crisis has left some wondering whether his papacy was a lost chance to push for democracy in the country
El Salvador’s strongman has proposed handing over 252 Venezuelans detained in the CECOT mega-prison in exchange for the release of 252 political prisoners in Venezuela. Surprisingly, Maduro’s chief prosecutor—tasked with the regime’s initial response—seems open to the idea.
Legal battles are intensifying around the joint Trump-Bukele crackdown that saw over 200 Venezuelans transferred to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison. On Saturday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an unusual weekend ruling to halt further deportations under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), with only conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissenting.
This comes after a tangled judicial back-and-forth: James Boasberg, a federal judge in Washington, had initially blocked the deportations (which were conducted anyways), but the Court lifted that ruling on April 7 (5-4 decision), citing jurisdictional grounds—saying Texas, not D.C., should handle such challenges. SCOTUS also ruled that detainees should be given due process to challenge their removal. And last week, Boasberg raised the stakes, suggesting Trump officials could face contempt charges for violating his earlier order.
ICE has since admitted it wrongly deported at least one person—Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego García—despite ongoing legal reviews (the Trump administration still deems him an MS-13 criminal despite it supposedly was an ‘administrative error’). Trump has deflected responsibility, insisting he can’t blame Bukele from holding who they’ve labeled as Tren de Aragua terrorists, while Bukele says he “doesn’t have the power” to return individuals like Abrego García (who is now being held outside CECOT). Now, Bukele is proposing to swap the extradition of alleged TDA gang members with the release of political prisoners in Venezuela.
Investigative journalism outlet El Faro revealed how a group of Venezuelan advisors formed an unofficial ring of influence between President Bukele and his cabinet
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One of the leading researchers on state violence in Venezuela and Latin America, Keymer Ávila, explains how Trump, Bukele, and Maduro are sharing the tactic of stigmatizing poor Venezuelans for their personal political gain
The Interior Minister is sending several mayors to prison on drug trafficking allegations, while building unprecedented influence in the Colombo-Venezuelan border
Maduro just ordered electricity rationing and reduced working hours for public offices. But the climate emergency he used as the excuse can’t be observed at the region that feeds the country’s main hydroelectric reservoir
Machado’s suffocation thesis may be based on false premises. For Venezuelan society, caught between repression and political “firmas,” the way forward must be organization beyond parties
The issue currently causing the most anxiety for Venezuelans stems from a mix of the country’s long-standing exchange controls—now over 20 years old—and specific unfolding events
Expelled from PJ and now aligned with UNT, Capriles and Tomás Guanipa are launching an electoral platform as chavismo removes their political bans. Meanwhile, certain alliances raise questions about what it means to be “opposition” #NowWhatVenezuela
