We Can Work It Out: Crafting a Constitutional Transition in Venezuela

/
We Can Work It Out: Crafting a Constitutional Transition in Venezuela

José Ignacio Hernández G.

In the last years, Constitutional Law scholars have been studying the consequences of political decay in democratic regimes that are moving towards authoritarianism. The traditional dichotomy between democracy and authoritarianism vanished, and the reality of competitive authoritarianism or hybrid regimes – illiberal democratic regimes that preserve a thick patina of constitutionality – became clearer.

Read More

Recuperando la integridad electoral en Venezuela: condiciones electorales necesarias para garantizar elecciones presidenciales libres y transparentes

/
Recuperando la integridad electoral en Venezuela: condiciones electorales necesarias para garantizar elecciones presidenciales libres y transparentes

Daniela UROSA

El sistema electoral venezolano carece actualmente de las mínimas condiciones adecuadas de integridad electoral. Tales condiciones han ido mermando progresivamente en los procesos electorales de los últimos años, muy especialmente durante la fraudulenta elección presidencial de 2018.

Read More

The Venezuelan Interim Government and its Time Constraints

/
The Venezuelan Interim Government and its Time Constraints

Rolando SEIJAS

It is three months now since Juan Guaidó assumed the office of the Presidency of the interim government of Venezuela. The interim government claims its legitimacy due to the fraudulent nature of the presidential election of 2018. The interim government has asserted that those elections could not have rendered a mandate to form a legitimate government.

Read More

A Constitutionally Enabled Crisis? The Problem of Venezuela's Self-Negating Constitution

/
A Constitutionally Enabled Crisis? The Problem of Venezuela's Self-Negating Constitution

Rafael MACÍA BRIEDIS

That Venezuela is currently in the midst of a serious institutional crisis is undeniable. That crisis is largely the product of constant abuses by the Maduro regime, which despite plummeting approval rates and a collapsing economy has sought to cling to power at any cost, using the constitutional structure as a façade through which to justify the concentration of all state authority in its own hands.

Read More

Challenging Autocracy: Opposition Re-Unification under Guaidó’s Leadership

/
Challenging Autocracy: Opposition Re-Unification under Guaidó’s Leadership

Maryhen JIMÉNEZ MORALES

In Venezuela, there has been a two-decade long effort of all opposition forces to defeat Chavismo, which rose to power with Hugo Chávez’s election as Venezuela’s President in 1998. Ever since, the opposition has tried through different means and strategies to successfully challenge the incumbent – first Chávez and, since 2013, his successor Nicolás Maduro.

Read More

The Venezuelan Opposition’s (Surprising) Rise from the Ashes

/
The Venezuelan Opposition’s (Surprising) Rise from the Ashes

Laura GAMBOA-GUTIÉRREZ

On 23 January 2019, National Assembly (AN) member of the Venezuelan legislature (‘National Assembly’), Juan Guaidó, shortly after his designation as President of the legislature, announced he was stepping in as Venezuela´s interim president. The statement took journalists, scholars and the general public interested in Venezuela by surprise.

Read More

A Primer to Venezuela’s Constitutional Crisis

/
A Primer to Venezuela’s Constitutional Crisis

Raul SÁNCHEZ-URRIBARRI & Carlos GARCÍA-SOTO

Venezuela’s current political crisis has its roots in December 2015, when the opposition won the majority of seats in the National Assembly. Since then, the country has suffered several political battles regarding the legitimacy of both the National Assembly and the Presidency of the Republic; against the backdrop of a deep social, economic and humanitarian crisis…

Read More

Guest Editor's Editorial: 'Blog Symposium - Venezuela’s 2019 (Constitutional) Crisis'

/
Guest Editor's Editorial: 'Blog Symposium - Venezuela’s 2019 (Constitutional) Crisis'

Raul SÁNCHEZ-URRIBARRI

Venezuela’s troubles have become global news in recent times.  The destruction of the country’s economy, the dramatic collapse of state capacity and services, the intractable political stalemate between its increasingly authoritarian government and the opposition, and the devastating humanitarian crisis that has ensued have all been well documented.    

Read More