Though not a rich country, Colombia is unusually well equipped to handle mass migration because of its own history with political strife and displacement.
If anyone can convince the Maduro government and the Venezuelan opposition to come together to fight COVID-19, it’s the Pope. But the Church’s power to negotiate an emergency deal is limited.
Citing national security, Ecuador, Peru and Chile have all made it harder for Venezuelan migrants to enter the country, and xenophobia is rising across the region – even in more welcoming Colombia.
The devastating costs of economic sanctions on Venezuela are being ignored or disregarded. So too is the lack of a legal basis for international intervention.
Venezuela’s most famous political prisoner, freed from house arrest by soldiers who turned against President Maduro, now faces arrest after leading an April 30 rebellion against Maduro’s government.
As rival factions vie for control over Venezuela, many of the country’s 31 million people are suffering prolonged power outages, food and water shortages, and limited access to medicine.
Robert Muggah, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio)
Citing security concerns, the US is evacuating its embassy in Caracas, where President Maduro blames the US for a calamitous power outage. Venezuela’s relations with Brazil are eroding quickly, too.
Robert Muggah, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) and Adriana Abdenur, Escola de Guerra Naval (ESG)
Brazil’s president has threatened military intervention in neighboring Venezuela, called its leader a ‘dictator’ and sent troops to the border. But Brazil’s military is quietly working to avoid war.
The Trump administration says President Maduro’s ‘days are numbered’ after Venezuelan security forces killed four protesters. But any US-led operation to oust him is likely to be extremely unpopular.
Visiting Scholar, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University; Director of Studies at the Changing Character of War Centre, and Senior Research Fellow, Dept. of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford
Part-time Professor at the School of International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa and the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University, Carleton University