González Urrutia met Biden
Jan. 7, 2025
Venezuelan opposition politician, Edmundo González Urrutia, met with U.S. President Joe Biden yesterday. González is widely considered to have won Venezuela’s election by a landslide, a victory not recognized by the government, which plans to confirm President Nicolás Maduro for another term on Friday.
González’s meeting with Biden is part of a diplomatic blitz ahead of the new presidential term in Venezuela, but most analysts believe Maduro will continue in power, despite international condemnation.
González maintains that he will be in Caracas on Friday, but has not explained how he will enter the country — the government has put a bounty on his head and promised to arrest him upont arrival — nor what he would do if he actually makes it into the country.
Venezuela’s government has virtually sealed off the capital ahead of Friday’s ceremony, and security forces are prominently deployed in Caracas and outskirts. “In the streets of Venezuela, there is a palpable sense that something monumental is about to unfold,” according to El País.
Asked by a journalist yesterday whether the US government would accompany him in his attempt to return to the country for the inauguration, González replied: “He accompanies me wholeheartedly, he accompanies me in the effort we are making and which is received with sympathy.”
The real question however is how the incoming U.S. administration will deal with Venezuela: president-elect Donald Trump has named hardliners to the State Department, but many analysts expect negotiations, which could revolve around Venezuela accepting deportees from the U.S.
Yesterday Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek Saab said that 146 more people arrested in the demonstrations after the July presidential election are to be freed. This would push the total number of prisoners released to 1,515 — more than 2,000, including dozens of children, were detained in the unrest, reports Reuters.
The announcement is at least the sixth time authorities have said people detained for taking part in post-election protests will be freed. More than 2,000 people were arrested.
(El País, New York Times, Associated Press, AFP, Reuters, see yesterday’s post)
More Venezuela
A new report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found that Maduro not only deployed state terrorism, but also a strategy of coordinated repression to remain in power - Efecto Cocuyo
Two U.S. citizens who were imprisoned in Venezuela have sued Maduro, accusing him of heading a vast “criminal enterprise” that has co-opted the state and uses U.S. citizens as bargaining chips in negotiations with the U.S., reports the Associated Press.
Regional Relations
Outgoing U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, said yesterday that he anticipated “major changes” in the diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Mexico during the incoming Trump administration, reports the Associated Press.
Migration
The number of migrants arrested illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in December was lower than when Trump ended his first term in 2020, according Reuters.
Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramón de la Fuente called on his country’s diplomats to actively support Mexican nationals living in other countries and protect their rights: over 2,600 officials are positioned in the U.S. to help Mexicans ahead of an expected effort to carry out mass deportations under the incoming U.S. government, reports Animal Político.
The number of child migrants traveling through Mexico towards the U.S. continued to increase in 2024 — increasingly families are undergoing the trip, rather than single adults or unaccompanied teenagers, reports El País.
The presidents of Honduras and Mexico met to discuss migration, calling for a regional meeting of Latin American foreign ministers through the CELAC bloc to discuss the subject ahead of Trump’s inauguration in the US - Americas Migration Brief
Migration and efforts to control it will continue to be a major issue in the region under the incoming U.S. government. But the phenomenon is global: “today’s unprecedented levels of migration make plain that a decrepit, outdated system, built in the wake of World War II, is incapable of contending with today’s humanitarian needs, demographic trends, or labor-market demands,” writes Amy Pope in Foreign Affairs.
Haiti
A second group of 75 Guatemalan soldiers arrived in Port-au-Prince this weekend to boost an international security support mission tasked with aiding Haiti’s police battle criminal gangs, reports Reuters.
Brazil
The Amazon town of Paragominas has gone from deforestation epicenter to “an exemplar of sustainable management,” reports the Guardian. “In a region battered by predatory logging and ranching, this city stands out. More than resilience, Paragominas is the story of a reversal of fortune, as compelling as it is unlikely.”
Regional
Boz makes predictions for LatAm in 2025 — he says likely (but not certain) scenarios include that Maduro will remain in control of Venezuela, Milei will drop currency controls in Argentina, Sheinbaum will retain over 50% approval in Mexico, and that a right-wing candidate will win in Chile’s presidential election. (Latin America Risk Report)
Argentina
Government austerity policies are affecting the quality of medical care at Argentina’s largest and most important pediatric hospital, reports the Guardian.
Argentine President Javier Milei is dismantling tariffs that protect the country’s industry from competing with imports — a move welcomed by consumers, but which has raised concern in the manufacturing sector which employs almost a fifth of workers and has already been hit hard by the country’s economic crisis, reports the Financial Times.
Colombia
Colombian unicorn, Rappi, is preparing to go public this year. The company has disrupted the region’s delivery and fintech sectors, and promises to upend labor relations, reports Americas Quarterly.