Kristen Martinez-Gugerli is the Venezuela Program Associate at WOLA, where she conducts research, facilitates congressional outreach, and provides support for the Venezuela program. Her main areas of interest are conflict resolution and human rights for vulnerable populations. At WOLA, she actively works to advocate for humanitarian assistance to Venezuela, the development of a peaceful and democratic resolution, and the rights of Venezuelan migrants and refugees. Ms. Martinez-Gugerli graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2019 with a BPhil in International and Area Studies and Political Science and a certificate in Latin American Studies.
This week, the Centro para los Defensores y la Justicia (CDJ), a Venezuelan NGO that works to defend human rights and document threats to human rights defenders in the country, published a report exposing that a total of 140 individuals and organizations working in...
On Friday, August 13, representatives of the Maduro government and the Guaidó-led opposition met in Mexico City to sign a memorandum of understanding, an initial agreement laying out the terms and objectives of a new negotiation process. This dialogue process,...
Negotiations between the Maduro government and the Guaidó-led opposition to explore solutions to Venezuela’s political and humanitarian crisis will reportedly begin in Mexico on August 13. On August 5, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador publicly confirmed...
On Monday, July 26, representatives of Foro Cívico launched a 5-day tour in Washington, D.C. for a public roundtable and a series of meetings with officials in the Biden administration, bipartisan members of the House and Senate, and other relevant actors to raise the profile of Venezuela’s humanitarian and political crisis, and ongoing efforts by civil society to achieve a solution.
On July 20, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) published a joint report highlighting the main lessons learned and subsequent narratives from the most recent effort to negotiate in 2019 under the mediation of...
In recent weeks, the Maduro government has intensified a campaign of repression and intimidation in Venezuela, arbitrarily detaining prominent figures including Voluntad Popular national coordinator Freddy Guevara and Director of the NGO FundaRedes Javier Tarazona. The heightened repression comes amid renewed speculation regarding potential negotiations
On June 17, the Canadian government hosted the 2021 International Donors’ Conference in Solidarity with Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants in coordination with the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration.
On June 8, Vice President of the National Electoral Council (CNE) Enrique Márquez announced that the council would be investigating the state-operated news station, Venezolana de Television (VTV) for the “use of public resources for partisan ends.” Ahead of regional...
Note: this piece has been updated to reflect the timeline of the referral by a group of States Parties to the Office of the Prosecutor. All eyes are on the Hague as the International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to make an announcement regarding the preliminary...
It’s been over two months since clashes broke out between the Venezuelan armed forces (Fuerzas Armadas Nacionales Bolivarianas, or FANB) and Colombian FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) dissident groups in the southwestern border state of Apure along the border with Colombia on March 21.
Director for Venezuela @GRamsey_LatAm
WOLA Senior Fellow and the Charles A. and Leo M. Favrot Professor of Human Relations at Tulane University
@dsmilde