Catherine Ellis is a British journalist who focuses on political, economic and societal issues in Colombia and Venezuela.
When President Donald Trump hurled abuse at Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro last month, branding him a “sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States,” it was strikingly audacious. Trump leaned into bombastic provocation: there is no evidence to suggest Petro himself makes cocaine. And yet, Trump’s claim didn’t come as
Hugo Chávez’s eyes are everywhere across parts of Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. In stark black and white, his gaze is stamped onto government buildings, public housing blocks and murals. But if the late socialist president could truly see what has become of the movement he founded, he would likely be dismayed. Most Venezuelans have abandoned chavismo.
From our UK edition
For someone widely believed to have lost a presidential election just a year ago, Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro is looking remarkably defiant – and still firmly in power. Maduro has just pulled off another patriotic spectacle – a choreographed homecoming of Venezuelan migrants with flags, cameras, and emotional reunions. This followed a deal with the Donald
From our UK edition
Actions often speak louder than words. In the case of the United States seizing Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro’s multi-million dollar luxury aircraft this week, that perhaps rings true. The international tip-toeing around how best to respond to Venezuela’s election result – considered fraudulent by many – and the turbulent repression that has ensued, has had global
From our UK edition
There are sore losers and then there’s Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro. The socialist president has ruled the South American country for 11 years, and despite opinion polls – and now physical vote tallies from the presidential election – proving that he’s not as popular as he wants to be, he seems to really want to stay in
From our UK edition
It was meant to be a crushing defeat ending 25 years of socialist rule, and the presidency of a man many see as largely responsible for Venezuela’s economic woes, a humanitarian crisis and rampant corruption. But for many Venezuelans, the only thing crushed following Sunday’s presidential election was hope. Many of those who are desperate
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A new year and a new chapter has begun in Ecuador, one that those living there perhaps rather wish hadn’t. The escape of a notorious drug lord on Sunday from one of the country’s prisons, and the storming of a live TV broadcast by armed men, reads like a cliched plotline for a narco drama.
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Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro seems to be in something of a political pickle. On Sunday, he held a referendum on whether or not Venezuela should annex Essequibo, a dense jungle region which makes up two-thirds of neighbouring Guyana. In the end, 95 per cent voted to support Venezuela’s claim to the land (Maduro hailed this as an
