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.
On March 31, upon concluding a three-day trip to Caracas, International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan announced that the ICC would open an office in Venezuela as it advances the investigation it began last year into human rights violations committed by Venezuelan authorities and government supporters since 2017.
As Venezuela’s economic, humanitarian and political crisis has dragged on, the number of people fleeing Venezuela has continued to rise. Over 6 million Venezuelans, or approximately 20 percent of Venezuela’s population, have fled the country, making it the largest international displacement in the hemisphere’s history.
In this latest episode of The Venezuela Briefing, Geoff Ramsey and Kristen Martinez-Gugerli had the opportunity to interview Francisco Monaldi, a leading scholar on the politics and economics of energy policy in Venezuela.
On Saturday, March 5, a group of high-level U.S. officials embarked on a high-profile visit to Caracas to meet with Venezuela’s de facto leader Nicolás Maduro, as well as relevant figures in Venezuela’s opposition.
On Saturday, March 5, a high-level delegation of U.S. officials including presidential advisor Juan Gonzalez, U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela Jimmy Story, and Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens, traveled to Caracas to speak with Venezuela’s de facto ruler Nicolás Maduro as well as chief opposition negotiator Gerardo Blyde and opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
On January 26, Venezuela’s electoral authority initiated the process to hold a recall referendum of de-facto president Nicolás Maduro. Under Venezuela’s constitution, the right to hold a recall referendum of an elected official can be invoked halfway through their term…
Amid Venezuela’s political crisis, organizations working to defend human rights and respond to the country’s complex humanitarian emergency are increasingly under attack by the Maduro government. In this context, many Venezuelan civil society organizations are pushing back against this repression by creating and preserving spaces to celebrate non-violent, democratic resistance.
In this latest, Spanish language* episode of The Venezuela Briefing, Geoff Ramsey and Kristen Martínez-Gugerli interview Eugenio Martínez, expert in Venezuelan politics and electoral matters, about the results of the regional elections on November 21, 2021
On Sunday, January 9, Venezuela will hold a supplemental election in the state of Barinas, following the pro-government Supreme Court’s disqualification of the victory of opposition candidate Freddy Superlano. Sunday’s election follows regional and municipal elections that took place on November 21, which saw a landslide victory for pro-government candidates in 20 out of 23 states and 205 out of 332 municipalities.
In this latest episode of The Venezuela Briefing, hosts Geoff Ramsey and Kristen Martinez-Gugerli interview Adelys Ferro, a Venezuelan-American community leader and director of the recently-launched Venezuelan American Caucus…
Director for Venezuela @GRamsey_LatAm
WOLA Senior Fellow and the Charles A. and Leo M. Favrot Professor of Human Relations at Tulane University
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