Guillermo Zubillaga, the head of AS/COA's Venezuela Working Group, spoke to Yahoo Finance about the current situation in Venezuela and the sanctions the U.S. government has imposed on Nicolas Maduro's regime. "It is a risky move but what [the U.S. sanctions are] seeking is to push a transition and once it is in place, to open up a humanitarian channel," 

Zubillaga also discussed Russia's involvement. "It's hard for the Russians to take control of the situation," he said. "They are not in the same hemisphere, they don't have the support of the neighbors of Venezuela." He also commented on China's new perspective on the situation, given that, "The Chinese have $40 billion on the line that needs to be paid."