Venezuela, a country in the northern part of South America, has suffered long periods of economic, social and political difficulties. Due to its political instability and authoritarian regime, Venezuela has been under U.S. sanctions for over fifteen years, and these measures, according to many observers, have caused the country’s economic collapse. The first sanctions were imposed by the Bush administration. The Obama administration then enacted new measures after the 2014 crisis. The real change, however, came under President Donald Trump. The former president imposed extremely harsh sanction ..read more

The National Migration Institute plans to investigate the cause of a deadly fire that broke out at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on Monday evening and killed at least 39 detainees, according to NBC News. Local authorities, migrants at the facility, and outside experts have provided differing accounts of the disaster; agency officials allege that the fire was started by migrants inside the center in protest of their deportation, while others claim that the cramped and inhospitable living conditions of the center left many individuals unable to escape as the fire began, rec ..read more

“We can’t stop people from making the journey, but we can require that they come here in an orderly way under U.S. law”. On 5th January, 2023, the Biden administration announced its new immigration policy, which many advocates believe will make the process more difficult for asylum seekers at the United States (U.S.) border. Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans seeking temporary protection are allowed entry based on this new policy. Those seeking protection would have to apply prior to entering the U.S., and approximately 30,000 individuals from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Haiti would be allo ..read more

Peace talks between the Colombian government and the country’s largest rebel group began in Venezuela last month after 60 years of conflict. The National Liberation Army (E.L.N.) is a Marxist group which supports land redistribution for farmers and which has planned a number of attacks in Colombia. On December 4th, the Colombian government and the E.L.N. agreed to allow the Embera, an Indigenous group which was displaced due to conflicts caused by the E.L.N., to return to their land. Prospects seem hopeful for further agreements in the name of peace. Both the E.L.N. and the Colombian governmen ..read more

On November 1st, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan formally asked the court to continue the investigation into the alleged human rights violations committed in Venezuela. This is in response to a deferral request made by Venezuela to delay the ICC’s investigation into their officials. It is now up to judges at the ICC to determine if the situation should be deferred under Venezuela’s request, or if the investigation can resume. In his statement following his application to resume the investigation, the prosecutor stated that while they have conducted an extensi ..read more

On October 3, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, while on a week-long trip to Colombia, Chile, and Peru, and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, leader of Colombia’s new leftist government, discussed taking steps to improve intelligence sharing and related drug trafficking matters between the two states, though no agreements were signed. However, the two countries continue to disagree on the extradition of drug criminals, according to Reuters. Speaking at a press conference, Blinken said that “We [The American Government] strongly support the holistic approach that President Petro’s admi ..read more

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced in July that it will be renewing, but not expanding, the Temporary Protected Status (T.P.S.) for Venezuelans in the United States. The Biden administration announced that it will offer an 18-month extension of T.P.S. to those who arrived in the U.S. by March 8, 2021, but that the program will not be expanded to incorporate recent arrivals. This move leaves tens of thousands of recently arrived Venezuelan immigrants without access to the humanitarian program’s protections. The T.P.S. program provides deportation relief and work permits to immig ..read more

Before the Summit of the Americas occurred in Los Angeles from June 6-10, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price stated that the U.S. “understands” Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s decision to not attend. López Obrador objected to the U.S.’s decision not to invite Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, choosing to send Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard to the summit in a move of protest. According to a senior U.S. official, the exclusion of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela is due to concerns about the lack of democracy and human rights in those countries. The summit included the ..read more

A Human Rights Watch report published on Monday March 28 revealed joint operations conducted between Venezuelan soldiers and Colombian rebels earlier this year. These operations were carried out on the border which separates the Colombian state, Arauca, from the Venezuelan state of Apure. According to The Guardian, the report also detailed the end of a truce between the National Liberation Army or ELN — who the Venezuelans conducted their operations with — and another rebel organization called the Joint Eastern Command. This divide has displaced over 3,800 people in Arauca and 3,300 in Apure s ..read more

On March 7th, Colombian president Ivan Duque declared that any solution to Venezuela’s humanitarian and political crises must come through transparent presidential elections. The announcement came as the U.S. began bilateral talks with Caracas to discuss the possibility of easing oil sanctions. Venezuela possesses the largest oil reserves in the world and could help the U.S. transition away from Russian oil. President Duque did not explicitly condemn the talks, but argued that the U.S. should push for elections instead of smaller political demands. Venezuela’s condition has been worsening over ..read more