Venezuela’s Aragua Train, which began smuggling women into jails a decade ago, has become an international forced prostitution and people-smuggling operation. A special investigation by Colombia’s El Espectador*.
country: Venezuela
Stay updated with comprehensive news on Venezuela from Worldcrunch. Discover insights on Venezuelan politics, economic strategies, societal issues, and cultural landmarks with translations from top international sources. Highlights include Caracas, Venezuelan history, and cultural events.
Like fears of communist subversion during the Cold War, claims that the Left will destroy the economy and end freedom persist in Latin American elections, in spite of their ridiculousness.
With dimmed hopes of a transition from the economic crisis and repressive regime of Nicolas Maduro, many Venezuelans increasingly see the United States, rather than Latin America, as the place to rebuild a life.
Venezuela’s first lady, Cilia Flores, is one of the country’s chief power brokers and a consummate wheeler-dealer who, with the help of relatives, runs a voracious enterprise dubbed the Flower Shop.
The impeachment and arrest of Peru’s Leftist president can be taken as perhaps a conclusive signal to the region that populism — from the Left and Right — may have run out of gas.
The Left is constantly being hailed as the resurgent power in Latin America. But there is no unified Left in the region. The “movement” is diverse — and its divisions are growing.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has managed to cling to power after an allegedly rigged 2018 presidential election. He did so with the help of Cuba, having enjoyed “working relations” with Cuban intelligence for decades.
Venezuela is to create free economic zones to attract foreign capital into the Venezuelan economy, but who would take “clean” money to a lawless land run by rapacious revolutionaries?
Most Latin American countries fear civil conflicts more than international invasion. A regional union is the best way to assure stability and lawfulness in a troubled but culturally cohesive continent. The EU shows us what that would look like and how to make it happen.
More than two years after the opposition leader proclaimed himself the country’s ‘legitimate’ leader, the man he was hoping to oust — President Nicolas Maduro — is still very much in charge.
Unlike his populist predecessor, the U.S. president-elect has an opportunity to engage with the leftist forces within Latin America that can then bring pressure to bear on the Maduro regime.
The socialist strongman has plenty of critics. But he also has a remarkable amount of staying power, in part because of the tacit support he receives from certain fellow presidents.
Latin American countries are, for the most part, appreciative of Beijing’s donations of much needed medical supplies. But the goodwill isn’t guaranteed to last forever.
Mediation may well be what Venezuela needs to climb out of its deep political crisis, but it can’t come from Cuba.
South American states like Chile and Ecuador suspect Venezuela’s socialist regime of fanning rioting in their countries.
After Trump fired hawkish U.S. official John Bolton, who had repeatedly threatened Venezuela’s regime with military action, Maduro may have the opening he’s been waiting for.
Venezuela’s authoritarian leader is tightening the screws on his armed forces, the former regime bulwark now suspected as a seedbed of sedition, in a national setting of economic desperation and political despair.
Cryptocurrencies are not so much money as flexible ‘assets’ that may be used in payments, without (yet) the universal credibility of a hard currency.
A recent trip to Caracas showed a city where many people continue to function for better or worse, and where the rich are still living large.
Economists say it’s worse than the Great Depression. Money is worthless in the ruined South American country, and too many are going hungry.
There are now 1.2 million Venezuelan migrants in Colombia. How they are treated may help determine a post-Maduro future.
The Western-aligned Lima Group is now seeking help from the more neutral International Contact Group, and even Cuba, to resolve the political deadlock in Venezuela.
The opposition has so far failed to provoke a military uprising against President Nicolás Maduro, and for now, can only count on an angry but tired population.
-Analysis- Venezuela has arrived at a dead end. It is mired in misrule, socio-economic chaos, unchecked crime and a spiraling humanitarian catastrophe that is leading to steady exodus of its population. The immediate causes of these were shortages in food, water, electricity and medicine, as well as hyperinflation (3 million percent per year) in an […]
Venezuela’s fate is becoming a strategic stake and source of conflict between Western democracies and increasingly aligned rivals, China and Russia.
-Editorial- BOGOTÁ — As the world recently watched humanitarian supply trucks burn on a bridge between the Colombian town of Cúcuta and the Venezuelan border, locals anxiously wondered if aid would ever arrive in a region plagued with years of economic crisis. Colombian Attorney General Fernando Carrillo echoed these sentiments after visiting Cúcuta and meeting […]
-Editorial- SANTIAGO – Ten days ago, on Feb. 23, our continent and the whole world were watching what would happen at Venezuela’s borders with Colombia and Brazil . In an attempted show of force, Venezuela’s opposition chief and self-proclaimed head of a provisional government Juan Guaidó , sought to bring humanitarian aid across the border, […]
Venezuela’s next problem, besides a crashed economy and an authoritarian regime, may be an opposition president incapable of running the country.
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And If Venezuela’s Maduro Survives?
There is a concerted push underway to remove the Venezuelan leader from power. But there’s no guarantee it’ll work.
Maduro needs to go, and his left-wing defenders need to stop making excuses. But calls for his removal by military means are also misguided.
With business sense and political pragmatism, communist China probably sees more sense backing Venezuela’s liberal opposition, which could seal the fate of its longtime ally.
From Spain’s Podemos to Noam Chomsky, many left-wingers around the world are too blinded by ideology to see the Venezuelan crisis for what it really is.
While many displaced Venezuelans are crossing over into Colombia or Brazil, others head offshore, to nearby Caribbean island nations, which have been less than welcoming.
The South American country’s economic and political crises have helped usher in the return of a once eradicated illness, researchers report.
-Analysis- BOGOTÁ — The Lima Group, a multilateral body of 14 American countries focused on resolving the institutional and democratic standoff in Venezuela, has declared Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s new term in office illegitimate, taking the firmest position so far on his conduct as ruler of Venezuela. But the group needs the support of more […]
The flood of people fleeing Venezuela’s dire economic and political situation is more than any one country can handle. But so far, there’s been little effort to organize a coordinated reaction.
Hyperinflation comes from ignoring some basic economic rules. That is unlikely to change any time soon under the Maduro government.
Modern Latin American history holds examples of insurrections to topple dictators, which contemporaries and posterity have judged positively. Why should there not be a rebellion today to free Venezuelans of its inept and tyrannical regime?
After last week’s sham election, the international community — starting with the nations of Latin America — need to isolate Maduro and encourage peaceful, democratic regime change.