What’s new? As Nicolás Maduro forces dissidents to flee Venezuela, exiles have come to play important roles influencing both the opposition’s political strategy and international policy toward Caracas. Analysis of social media suggests that exile can lead opposition members to use strident rhetoric and advocate aggressive ideas more often than domestic counterparts.
Why does it matter? Internationally facilitated negotiations remain Venezuela’s best path to peace, and the new U.S. administration might very well pursue them. Their success rests on all parties’ willingness to accept compromise. Conciliatory attitudes could be undermined not only by crackdowns in Venezuela but also by prominent exiles’ views.
As the eyes of the world remain fixated on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, the U.S. colony of Puerto Rico produced a more satisfying and historic outcome for the Puerto Rican left after its local election on November 3, 2020. Puerto Rico’s vote is historic (a claim that should never be taken lightly in politics) but not because of the razor-thin results of the gubernatorial race, which was the main contest of the election. Nor did Puerto Rican voters make history, as many U.S. liberals and some progressives are anxious to believe, in a concurrent nonbinding plebiscite in which the vote in favor of statehood received the majority (also by a slim margin). Nor is it especially surprising, given recent changes to the election law deregulating the process, that recounts in localities with close results especially the capital city of San Juan have been plagued with irregularities.
Showtime to Premiere Second Season of VICE
Premiering Sunday, March 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.by TV News Desk
SHOWTIME announced today that season two of the award-winning documentary series VICE will premiere Sunday, March 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The season will consist of 15 episodes, eight of which will air weekly on Sundays leading to a midseason finale on April 25. The remaining seven episodes will air this fall. Known for delivering immersive reporting from the frontlines of global conflicts, civil uprisings and more, VICE returns with a new slate of groundbreaking stories from its team of global correspondents, taking on a range of issues from police brutality in Nigeria to the continued shockwaves of President Trump s foreign policy in Iran and Yemen. And in the U.S., VICE will continue its fearless exploration of the racial reckoning underway in the country.
In Puerto Rico, the 2019 Uprising Produces an Electoral Opening Toward the Left
As the eyes of the world remain fixated on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, the U.S. colony of Puerto Rico produced a more satisfying and historic outcome for the Puerto Rican left after its local election on November 3, 2020. Puerto Rico’s vote is historic (a claim that should never be taken lightly in politics) but not because of the razor-thin results of the gubernatorial race, which was the main contest of the election. Nor did Puerto Rican voters make history, as many U.S. liberals and some progressives are anxious to believe, in a concurrent nonbinding plebiscite in which the vote in favor of statehood received the majority (also by a slim margin). Nor is it especially surprising, given recent changes to the election law deregulating the process, that recounts in localities with close results especially the capital city of San Juan have been plagued with irregularities.