Security & Strategic Review - July 2017 (ISSN 1741-4202)

President Nicolás Maduro shows no sign of compromise as ‘zero hour’ approaches – the 30 July election for a national constituent assembly – which the Venezuelan opposition fears will allow Maduro to consolidate a military dictatorship in the country. Even as the international community ratchets up the pressure, the Caracas government has doubled down and notably, there is no sign of the military breaking with Maduro. Close observers of Venezuela including the Bogotá-based International Crisis Group are warning of “a grave danger of violence on a scale so far unseen”, advising external players that “inaction is no longer an option”. A negotiating structure of some sort simply must be found, it urges.