“I suspect the government would use a defeat as a kind of victory — to try to push back against the evidence that it’s taking total power,” said AS/COA's Guillermo Zubillaga ahead of Venezuela's state-level elections.
Venezuela
The responsible next steps are "clear" in regards to Venezuela, says AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth.
“The most important thing that came out of the dinner was the photograph showing the president and the vice president of the United States sitting down with regional leaders to talk about Venezuela,” noted AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth.
When it comes to the EU, OAS, and UN, responses to Venezuela’s crisis are mixed.
AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth discussed U.S. sanctions on Venezuela underlining that “it’s about raising the cost of behavior by the government in Caracas that the international community has clearly rejected.”
“[The administration is] trying to strike a balance between showing concern and taking steps that will hurt the leaders of the regime—and not hurt the Venezuelan people," said AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth.
The former Attorney General was a loyal chavista – now she’s fled the country, and Maduro has called for her arrest.