Venezuela Working Group
Venezuela Working Group
The Venezuela Working Group (VWG) leverages AS/COA’s corporate constituency to provide a unique forum for a constructive, hands-on conversation on Venezuela. The VWG navigates Venezuela’s changing economic and political landscape by convening key national and international stakeholders from the public, private, and social sectors to better understand the country’s present challenges and future political and economic scenarios. Our programs include high-level private and public meetings and discussions.
The VWG is open to and currently includes AS/COA corporate, Chairman’s International Advisory Council, Board of Directors, and President’s Circle members.
Live Broadcast
Watch an expert panel discussion on the role of women in the fight for a democratic resolution in Venezuela.
AS/COA held a one-on-one conversation with Cristina Burelli, an internationally known advocate for the Venezuelan Amazon.
The event also featured remarks by Colombian Vice Foreign Minister Adriana Mejía and U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela James Story.
Council of the Americas held a public meeting with David Smolansky, the special envoy of the OAS secretary general for Venezuela’s migration and refugee crisis.
Council of the Americas held an off-the-record discussion with Norman T. Roule on Iranian interests in Venezuela and, more broadly, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Henri Falcón’s candidacy in May’s election could be aimed more at opposition politics than defeating Nicolás Maduro.
Venezuela is holding presidential elections, but they’ll be far from free and fair.
Video: Social Media As a Tool of Democracy in Venezuela
Video: Social Media As a Tool of Democracy in Venezuela
Watch a discussion between experts from Twitter, Sin Mordaza, and Human Rights Watch on the power of platforms such as Twitter to document human rights violations in the country.
Speakers:
- Colin Crowell, Vice President, Global Public Policy & Corporate Philanthropy, Twitter
- Rodrigo Diamanti, Director, Un Mundo Sin Mordaza
- Daniel Wilkinson, Managing Director for the Americas, Human Rights Watch
- Raúl Stolk, Lawyer and Writer; Chairman, Caracas Chronicles (moderator)
Fake news is a problem, but the truth can spread just as quickly, Twitter's Colin Crowell said in a panel that started with a discussion on the importance of citizen journalists in Venezuela. Human Rights Watch's Daniel Wilkinson explained how Venezuelan citizens' active use of social media and videos is crucial to document human rights violations today. For Rodrigo Diamanti of Un Mundo sin Mordaza, the International Criminal Court's decision in February to open a preliminary investigation into human rights abuses by the Maduro government is "the best thing that has happened to Venezuela in the last five years." Diamanti also said that one of his greatest concerns is that the Maduro regime is moving toward cutting off the internet entirely in the country in the interest of self-preservation, and he urged the international community to move proactively to safeguard the internet before that could happen.
Venezuela's January-to-December loss in 2017 ranks as the fifth-largest single-year production drop experienced by one country since 2000.
In this podcast, Mark Feierstein, NSC senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs in the Obama White House, lays out a multi-pronged strategy for pressuring the Maduro regime ahead of 2018 elections.
