At a moment when Nicolás Maduro commemorates 10 years in power in Venezuela, the opposition has agreed to participate in presidential elections in 2024, marking a change to their previous strategy of boycotting them. The United States has spent the past decade trying different measures to remove the Maduro dictatorship for office, most notably in 2019 recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country’s interim president, a tactic that did not succeed. Now that the opposition is united, the U.S. should support their decision to move forward with elections, even if they are not ultimately free and fair. That’s what this week’s guests argue, and they call for a bipartisan approach to this support. Juan Cruz was the top official on Latin America at the White House at the beginning of the Trump administration and Mark Feierstein held that same job at the end of the Obama years.
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Guests:
Mark Feierstein is a senior advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group and CLS Strategies. He was special assistant to President Obama and senior director for Western Hemisphere Affairs on the National Security Council
Juan Cruz is a 35-year veteran of the U.S. Government, is a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He was senior director for Western Hemisphere Affairs on the National Security Council under President Trump
Brian Winter is the editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly
Suggested readings and podcast episodes:
A Bipartisan U.S. Approach On Venezuela Is Possible—and Necessary by Juan Cruz and Mark Feierstein
A New, Realistic Era for Venezuela’s Opposition by Guillermo Zubillaga
Venezuela Isn’t on Track for 2024 Elections by Guillermo Zubillaga
AQ Podcast: Moisés Naím on Latin America’s Bright Spots and Challenges
Venezuela’s Ad Hoc Economic Recovery Is Not Yet Sustainable by Raúl Stolk
