The Venezuela Reader

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January 20, 2026

2025: The Pro-Government Coalition Won Elections for 23 of 24 Regional Governors The National Electoral Council (CNE) scheduled the 24 gubernatorial elections for May 25, 2025. One opposition leader, Maria Machado, called for abstention and urged voters to boycott the gubernatorial elections. Machado did not accept the results of the 2024 election of Nicolas Maduro as President accusing the CNE of massive fraud and claiming that Edmundo Gonzalez had actually won the Presidential election. Machado maintained that voting would mean surrendering the fraud claims and would serve to “legitimize” Maduro and the CNE.[1] Other opposition leaders complained that Machado had not consulted with them before calling for a voter boycott.[2] In April, several prominent self-described opposition “moderates” announced a new political platform DECIDE to encourage voter turnout. The Decide platform was led by former Presidential candidates Henrique Capriles and Henri Falcon and Jesus “Chuo”...

January 16, 2026

2018: President Maduro Accused the U.S. of Pressuring the United Nations to not Send Election Observers In September 2017, President Maduro and the Opposition Coalition (MUD) leaders agreed to a Dialogue process to establish agreement on the 2018 Presidential election process and rules. One demand made by the Opposition was for the Government to ask the United Nations to send a Team of Election Observers to monitor the election. Maduro agreed to ask the UN to send observers. While Maduro signed the final draft election agreement, the Opposition leaders did not. Nevertheless, Maduro said that state institutions would still comply with the electoral guarantees established in the agreement- including requesting UN electoral observers. On February 22, 2018 Electoral Board President Tibisay Lucena announced that the CNE had formally invited the UN to observe the Presidential Election. According to Lucena, the participation of the UN would demonstrate the legitimacy of the Venezuel...

January 15, 2026

2017: President Trump’s Sanctions on Venezuela Resulted in Increased Deaths Due to AIDS Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, called HIV. HIV damages the immune system so that the body is less able to fight infection and disease. There is no cure for HIV/AIDS. 90% of patients with the virus can expect to contract AIDS which is fatal in 8 to 10 years. Medicines (antiviral treatments [ART]) can keep the disease from getting worse. In 1991, Venezuela began to provide ART as part of a program that served the population free-of-charge.[1] The percentage of HIV-positive people receiving ART reached 60% by 2015[2]. All of the ART medicines were imported. The government provided foreign currency to the National Health Ministry for the purchase of ART which then was distributed to pharmacies and hospitals. The foreign currency came from the sale of oil by Venezuela’s state oil company (PDVSA). Accordi...

January 14, 2026

2018: 150 International Observers Declared the Re-Election of Maduro as “Free and Fair” President Nicolas Maduro ran in the Presidential Election on May 20, 2018. The opposition coalition (MUD) boycotted the election and urged its supporters to not vote. Nevertheless, three opposition candidates were on the ballot and received 32% of the vote. Maduro was declared the winner by the Electoral Council (CNE) with 68% of the vote. 150 international election observers were certified by the CNE to observe the election. Seven technical representatives of the Latin American Council of Electoral Experts observed the twenty audits of the electoral system in the months leading to the vote. The other certified observers spent the week before the election observing the process and meeting with the campaign managers of all four candidates. 150 International Observers Summary Report [1] · The Observers included representatives from countries such as Spa...

January 13, 2026

2015: President Maduro Prepared Venezuela for an Attack from the US After President Obama declared that Venezuela was an “Extraordinary Threat” to the US On March 9, 2015 President Obama signed Executive Order 13692 declaring a National Emergency due to the “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by the situation in Venezuela.” He activated The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and sanctioned seven Venezuelan officials Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called the US sanctions “the most aggressive, unjust and harmful step that has ever been taken by the US against Venezuela.” [3] On March 15, the Venezuelan National Assembly approved an Enabling Law which granted Maduro decree powers for nine months to defend against threats from the US. The Law required 60% approval. Maduro noted that, in contrast, Obama’s Emergency Decree required no congressional approval. The US sanctions were ...

January 12, 2026

2003: 10,000 Cuban Doctors Transformed Venezuela’s Health Care System In Libertador Municipality, home to about a million poor people, a survey of hillside barrio residents was conducted in 2002. Residents identified health care as their greatest concern- particularly the long time required to travel to hospitals during emergencies and the difficulty in obtaining medical treatment at night. [1] The drive to the nearest hospital took at least an hour. When there were traffic jams, many patients arrived at the hospitals already dead.[2] In January 2003, Freddy Bernal, Mayor of Libertador, began advertising positions for physicians to live and work in poor neighborhoods. Fifty Venezuelan physicians responded, but they declined to live in barrios citing security concerns. Recalling Cuban doctors who provided emergency care after mudslides in 1999 and remained as health care providers in some neighborhoods, Bernal initiated discussions with the Cuban Embassy that led to an a...