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The Venezuela Working Group

The Venezuela Working Group (VWG) is a high-level group that informs policymakers in the United States, Europe, and Latin America on how to advance a long-term vision and action-oriented policies to foster democratic stability in Venezuela. The Venezuela Working Group seeks to promote the restoration of democratic institutions in Venezuela.

VWG members draw from their diverse backgrounds, global networks, and deep expertise to tackle the most challenging issues around Venezuela policy, both at the domestic and international levels. Priority issues for the VWG’s 2021 work include: supporting Venezuela’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts; assessing risks and opportunities around upcoming regional elections; and exploring non-traditional mechanisms for effectively mitigating Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis.

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Venezuela policy BITES

Content

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#AlertaVenezuela

Aug 19, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: August 19, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

After U.S. authorities seized four vessels carrying fuel from Iran to Venezuela, pro-Maduro media amplified Iran’s claim that the United States “lie[d]” and that the Iranian shipment had no direct connection to Iran.

Disinformation Venezuela

In the News

Aug 14, 2020

Deputy Director Julia Friedlander’s Op-Ed for the Hill on the Implications of the Current Sanction Regime

By Julia Friedlander

Read the full article here.

Economic Sanctions Iran

Issue Brief

Aug 13, 2020

The Maduro Regime’s Illicit Activities: A Threat to Democracy in Venezuela and Security in Latin America

By Douglas Farah

Introduction By Diego Area and Domingo Sadurní Two months after the internationally recognized interim government marked its first year, Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis, the worst ever in the Western Hemisphere’s modern history, entered a new phase. The coronavirus pandemic, which has rattled even the most developed nations, is further straining a crippled health system already unable […]

Conflict Corruption
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#AlertaVenezuela

Aug 11, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: August 12, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

After the detention of former Colombian President and current Senator Álvaro Uribe on August 4, 2020, political leaders in the region such as Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado warned that Colombia would become a regime like Venezuela and targeted Nicolás Maduro as responsible for the arrest as well. Machado’s claim was amplified by Colombian congresspeople supporting Uribe and appeared among the most watched videos on Facebook.

Disinformation Venezuela
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#AlertaVenezuela

Aug 4, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: August 04, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Following his arrest, two accounts supporting Colombian businessman Alex Saab attacked Colombian and Venezuelan journalists using violent language and threats on Twitter, which is prohibited by Twitter’s policy on safety. One of the accounts – @DenunciaJulio – also showed possible links to Colombian law firm De La Espriella, which represented Saab until July 2019.

Disinformation Venezuela
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#AlertaVenezuela

Jul 28, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: July 28, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

On July 21-23, 2020, Twitter accounts petitioning U.S. President Donald Trump for a military intervention in Venezeula also pushed four hashtags to trend that promoted anti-socialist messaging against Juan Guaidó and Nicolás Maduro. The accounts, all of which had set their locations to Venezuela, showed signs of inauthenticity and platform manipulation, such as posting duplicative content and creating fake engagement.

Disinformation Venezuela
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#AlertaVenezuela

Jul 22, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: July 22, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Representatives aligned with Luis Parra, Maduro’s illegitimately installed National Assembly president, announcing on July 19 that he had been hospitalized after “apparent pneumonia.” Pro-Maduro accounts used Parra’s name to convey news about his condition and to promote Maduro regime’s hashtags on Twitter. “Luis Parra” trended as a keyword on Venezuela between July 19-21, 2020.

Disinformation Venezuela
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#AlertaVenezuela

Jul 14, 2020

#AlertaVenezuela: July 14, 2020

By Atlantic Council's DFRLab

Brazilian assets removed by Facebook for “coordinated inauthentic behavior” used the economic and health crisis in Venezuela, which has been exacerbated by the Maduro regime, to promote anti-socialist sentiment in Brazil. The DFRLab also found some of the assets shared memes supporting a U.S. military intervention in Venezuela. The same message had been shared before by Rumbo Libertad, a Venezuelan far right and libertarian movement whose members have appeared in pictures with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his sons in the past.

Disinformation Venezuela

Event Recap

Jul 10, 2020

El dilema electoral y la desinformación en Venezuela

By Alfredo Graffe

La discusión se centró en un análisis sobre operaciones de manipulación en redes sociales dentro del contexto de crisis humanitaria compleja que vive Venezuela y sus posibles repercusiones en eventuales elecciones parlamentarias.

Disinformation Spanish

Event Recap

Jul 10, 2020

Trust in elections and disinformation in Venezuela

By Alfredo Graffe

Area kicked-off the conversation by summarizing the recent actions of the Nicolás Maduro regime to promote parliamentary elections slated for later this year after the Venezuelan Supreme Court unconstitutionally appointed a new board to the Electoral Council and replaced the leaders of the two main opposition with regime-friendly politicians.

Disinformation Venezuela
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Experts

Millennium fellow

Roberto Patino

Founder and CEO, Mi Convive / Alimenta La Solidaridad

Millennium Leadership Program

Civil Society Entrepreneurship
Daniel Suarez Perez

Staff

Daniel Suárez Pérez

Research Associate, Latin America

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Colombia Conflict

Fellow

Iria Puyosa

Senior Research Fellow

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Americas Civil Society

Millennium fellow

Félix Alberto Quintero

Counsel, World Bank

Millennium Leadership Program

Latin America Politics & Diplomacy

Fellow

Erika Rodríguez

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center

European Union International Organizations

Fellow

Samantha Sultoon

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Economic Statecraft Initiative GeoEconomics Center

Cuba East Asia
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