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The day Edmundo González was plucked from obscurity and chosen to take on South America’s longest ruling authoritarian leader, technicians were busy making sure his home was not wiretapped. “This was not in our plans,” his wife, Mercedes López de González, said in an interview that day in April in their apartment in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. Not long ago, Mr. González, 74, was a retired diplomat and grandfather of four with no political aspirations. He kept busy writing academic papers, speaking at conferences and taking his grandchildren to haircuts and music lessons. Now, many Venezuelans have placed their hopes in him to end years of repressive rule as he challenges President Nicolás Maduro, who has held power since 2013, in elections scheduled in late July.

Persons: Edmundo González, ”, Mercedes López de González, González, Nicolás Maduro Locations: Caracas, Venezuela

☆ Venezuela’s Democratic Hopes Dim as Opposition Is Blocked From National Vote
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Genevieve Glatsky | Isayen Herrera | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Then, it was supposed to be Corina Yoris, a little-known philosophy professor. But now, an opposition coalition has been blocked from fielding any candidate to run against President Nicolás Maduro in elections scheduled in July. The coalition of opposing political parties, the Democratic Unity Roundtable, had hoped that uniting behind a single candidate would make it a viable challenger to Mr. Maduro. But on Monday, a national electoral commission controlled by allies of Mr. Maduro used a technical maneuver to prevent the coalition from putting a candidate on the ballot. As a result Mr. Maduro, whose repressive rule has left Venezuela in financial ruin and helped push out roughly one-fourth of its population, is increasingly likely to hold onto power.

Persons: María Corina Machado, Nicolás Maduro, Maduro Organizations: Democratic Unity Roundtable Locations: Venezuela

Of all the government critics, few thought that Rocío San Miguel would be the one to disappear. Ms. San Miguel, 57, has long been one of Venezuela’s best known security experts, a woman who dared investigate her country’s authoritarian government even as others fled. But late last week, Ms. San Miguel arrived at the airport outside Caracas with her daughter, bound for what a relative called a short trip to Miami, when she was picked up by counterintelligence agents. For four days, the only public information about Ms. San Miguel came from Venezuela’s top prosecutor, who claimed on social media, without providing evidence, that Ms. San Miguel had been linked to a plot to kill the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. Finally, on Tuesday evening, her lawyers said she had surfaced — and was being held in a notoriously brutal detention center.

Persons: San, San Miguel, Nicolás Maduro Organizations: Venezuelan Locations: San Miguel, Caracas, Miami, Venezuela’s

Manuel Barrios joined the battle against Russian forces in Ukraine because a bank threatened to repossess his home in Colombia. They were among hundreds of Colombian veterans who have volunteered to fight for Ukraine for the chance to make at least three times what they can earn at home. “He said he was fighting a war in a country that wasn’t his because of the dire need,” said Mr. Barrios’s wife, Maria Cubillos. The stories of Colombian volunteers highlight the shifting nature of the Ukraine war, which has transformed from a fast-moving struggle for national survival into a war of attrition. Heavy losses and stalemated battles are forcing both sides to look for new pools of fighters to replenish their ranks.

Persons: Manuel Barrios, Luis Alejandro Herrera, Jhoan Cerón, “, ”, Barrios’s, Maria Cubillos Organizations: Russian Locations: Ukraine, Colombia, United States, Mexico

When the Venezuelan government released five political prisoners late Wednesday to cheers from the country’s opposition, it was the most emotional in a rapid series of policy shifts in the South American country that together represent the most significant softening of relations between Venezuela and the United States in years. In a matter of days, Venezuela’s authoritarian government has agreed to accept Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States and signed an agreement with opposition leaders designed to move toward a free and fair presidential election in 2024. In exchange, the United States has agreed to lift some economic sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry, a vital source of income for the government of President Nicolás Maduro. The developments come just days before more than one million Venezuelans are expected to head to the polls for a primary election to choose the opposition leader who will face Mr. Maduro next year.

Persons: Nicolás Maduro, Maduro Locations: Venezuelan, American, Venezuela, United States

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have arrived at the United States border in the last two years, part of a historic wave of migrants headed north amid growing global crises. But Venezuela has been in the midst of an economic and humanitarian crisis for roughly a decade. Why are so many people going to the United States now? Over the last year, we’ve interviewed hundreds of Venezuelans headed to the United States. At the same time, social media has popularized the route to the United States, while a thriving people-moving business near the start of the journey has accelerated the pace of migration — even as a United Nations tally shows a record number of people dying on their way north.

Persons: we’ve Organizations: United Nations Locations: United States, Venezuela, Latin America

Each morning, José Aguilera inspects the leaves of his banana and coffee plants on his farm in eastern Venezuela and calculates how much he can harvest — almost nothing. Explosive gas flares from nearby oil wells spew an oily, flammable residue on the plants. “When it falls, everything dries up.”Venezuela’s oil industry, which helped transform the country’s fortunes, has been decimated by mismanagement and several years of U.S. sanctions imposed on the country’s authoritarian government, leaving behind a ravaged economy and a devastated environment. The state-owned oil company has struggled to maintain minimal production for export to other countries, as well as domestic consumption. But to do so it has sacrificed basic maintenance and relied on increasingly shoddy equipment that has led to a growing environmental toll, environmental activists say.

Persons: José Aguilera, ” Locations: Venezuela, U.S

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