Washington, D.C.—Venezuela will hold presidential elections on Sunday, May 20. The obvious lack of electoral guarantees and likely abstention mean that incumbent Nicolás Maduro will almost certainly be declared the winner, but the event will not resolve the country’s political crisis. Instead, it will likely be met with outcry from the international community and Venezuelan civil society.
Why is Maduro likely to win on Sunday, despite his unpopularity? How is the international community, and the United States in particular, likely to respond? What will all of this mean for everyday Venezuelans, who are suffering from mass scarcities of basic goods and medicine?
WOLA’s Venezuelan Politics and Human Rights blog will examine these questions and others during the lead-up to the elections and their aftermath. Recent posts include:
- A Q&A on the election, its implications, and the latest developments in the country’s political crisis.
- A look at the international community’s likely response to the elections, and the possible implications for Maduro’s government should few countries recognize the legitimacy of Sunday’s results.
- The latest WOLA podcast on mass migration from Venezuela and the regional response, along with images from an April research trip to Caracas and Venezuela’s Colombian and Brazilian borders.
- An overview of the debate in Washington over the importance of negotiations in finding a solution to the crisis.
WOLA Assistant Director for Venezuela Geoff Ramsey is a contributor to the blog and an expert on the country’s political and economic crisis. Ramsey, who recently returned from a month-long trip to Venezuela and its neighboring countries to assess the humanitarian situation on the ground, is available to provide independent, reality-based analysis ahead of Sunday’s election.
###
For press requests, please contact:
Francis Torres
WOLA Communications Assistant
+1 (202) 797-2171
