Veneco Podcast

Juan Escalante is a Venezuelan-American immigrant-rights advocate, digital strategist, and former DACA recipient. In this episode, Escalante traces his journey from growing up undocumented in the United States to becoming a leading voice in national debates on immigration, democracy, and diasporic civic engagement. Drawing on both lived experience and years of organizing, he explains what Temporary Protected Status (TPS) actually means in practice—how it provides protection from deportation and work authorization, but also how its “temporary” nature traps families in prolonged legal and emotional uncertainty. The conversation examines TPS for Venezuelans within a broader political and geopolitical context. Escalante unpacks how Venezuelan migrants organized to win TPS designation under the Biden administration, how solidarity has emerged across Haitian, Central American, and other TPS-holding communities, and how internal divisions within the Venezuelan diaspora can weaken collective advocacy. He offers a critical reading of U.S. foreign policy toward Venezuela, warning against narratives that suggest the country is suddenly “safe” following recent political developments, and argues that deporting Venezuelans under these assumptions is both premature and dangerous. News Brief by Reetchel Presume Photo credit: Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo

Atenea Jiménez Lemón is a Venezuelan sociologist and founder of the communal network Red Nacional de Comuneras y Comuneros and of the Universidad Campesina de Venezuela Argimiro Gabaldón, the world's first communal university. A long-time grassroots organizer and political analyst, she is a member of the Alianza por la Soberanía y la Democracia (Alliance for Sovereignty and Democracy, ASD) and is known for her sustained engagement with popular power, communal organization, and the defense of social and political rights. Her work and activism have challenged the authoritarian turn of the Maduro government and its dependence on external powers, emphasizing the need to rebuild democracy from below through autonomous, territorially rooted movements. In this episode, Jiménez Lemón analyzes Venezuela’s current political rupture following the January 3, 2026 U.S. military intervention and the capture of Nicolás Maduro, arguing that the operation reveals internal fractures within the regime while inaugurating a new phase of external control that further undermines national and popular sovereignty. She reflects on the limits of the traditional opposition, the social legitimacy—and contradictions—of figures like María Corina Machado, and the severe risks facing social movements amid repression, fear, and mass migration. She calls to repoliticize Venezuelan society through human rights advocacy, the release of political prisoners, and the reconstruction of grassroots organization as the only credible path toward a democratic, sovereign, and socially just future. English Interpretation by Reetchel Presume

Our guest is Gabriel Hetland, sociologist and associate professor of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino/Latina Studies at the University at Albany SUNY. He is the author of Democracy on the Ground: Local Politics in Latin America’s Left Turn.

Our guest is Raylí Luján, Venezuelan journalist and columnist for La Vida de Nos, as well as the recipient of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) 2018 South American Journalism Award. Photo credit: EFE - Ronald Pena R

Our guest is Dr. Orçun Selçuk, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Luther College and the author of the new book The Authoritarian Divide: Populism, Propaganda, and Polarization, a comparative analysis centered on how populist leaders in Venezuela, Ecuador, and Turkey leverage propaganda and emotional appeals to deepen societal divides, and the strategies opposition movements employ to counter these.

Our guest is Dr. Nadia Mosquera Muriel, Assistant Professor of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she specializes in Afro-Latin American social movements, particularly in Venezuela and Colombia. Her upcoming book is Building Blackness: Culture and Resistance in the Afterlives of the Plantation in Venezuela. Photo credit: Nadia Mosquera Muriel. March commemorating the abolition of slavery (Caracas, Venezuela, March 24, 2015)

Our guest is Phil Gunson, journalist, consultant, and senior analyst for the Andes at the International Crisis Group. He joins us to discuss the July 28 presidential elections, the possibilities of international mediation, and the future of Chavismo.

Este evento virtual se llevó a cabo el 3 de abril de 2023 patrocinado por el programa de estudios latinoamericanos y hemisféricos (LAHSP, por sus siglas en inglés) de the George Washington University, con el apoyo de la Sección de Estudios Venezolanos de LASA, LATAM@GW, y NACLA Report on the Americas. Este diálogo reúne a activistas, académicos y organizadores de base a lo largo del espectro político para crear una visión sobre el futuro de los movimientos sociales en Venezuela y poder debatir distintas perspectivas sobre teorías del cambio. Contó con la participación de: - Andrea Paola Hernández: periodista investigativa y activista feminista de Maracaibo, Venezuela. Su enfoque investigativo se centra en temas de género e interseccionalidad en los movimientos sociales de Venezuela y visibilidad queer afroindígena. Ha escrito para the Guardian, Open Democracy, the New Humanitarian, Global Voices, entre otros medios y plataformas. - Atenea Jiménez Lemon: socióloga egresada de la Universidad Central de Venezuela especializada en movimientos sociales. Es también Investigadora de la Escuela Bolivariana del Poder Popular, y Vocera y fundadora de la Red Nacional de Comuneros y Comuneras y la Universidad Campesina de Venezuela Argimiro Gabaldón, la primera universidad comunalizada del mundo. - Marialbert Barrios: diputada electa a la Asamblea Nacional de Venezuela para el período entre 2016 y 2021 como miembro del partido Primero Justicia, representando las parroquias de La Pastora, El Junquito y Catia. En aquel entonces, la diputada más joven electa en la historia del país. Actualmente es directora del proyecto Wommu, una plataforma orientada a la formación del liderazgo femenino en Venezuela bajo los pilares de la pluralidad, el cierre de las brechas sociales y la apuesta por una sociedad más justa. - Yoletty Bracho: doctora en ciencias políticas de Université Lumière Lyon 2 en Francia. Su enfoque investigativo se centra en la relación condicionada entre el estado venezolano y la clase trabajadora a través las políticas participativas de la era Chavista. Recientemente también ha escrito sobre la migración venezolana y la violencia de estado en los sectores populares urbanos. - Diego Abente-Brun: director del programa de Estudios Latinoamericanos y Hemisféricos en the George Washington University - Elliott School of International Affairs.

Episode 16: Our guest is Tamara Adrián, Venezuelan human rights activist, lawyer, and member of Unidos Por la Dignidad (UPD), a social movement advocating for the rights of the LGBTI community in Venezuela. Tamara was elected to congress during the 2015 National Assembly elections in Venezuela, becoming one of the first transgender members of congress in the Western Hemisphere. You can follow UPD on Twitter @TodesDignidad

Episode 15: Our guest is Omar Hammoud-Gallego, researcher and Fellow in Political Science and Public Policy at the London School of Economics, specializing in migration and refugee policies.

Episode 14: Our guest is William Neuman, journalist and author of "Things Are Never So Bad They Can't Get Worse: Inside the Collapse of Venezuela. He was the New York Times' Andes Bureau Chief from 2012 to 2016.

Episode 13: Our guest is Laura Gamboa, assistant professor at the University of Utah’s Political Science Department and the College of Social and Behavioral Science. Her upcoming book on opposition strategies in Colombia and Venezuela within contexts of erosion of democracy is Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy. Photo credit: Fernando Vergara / Associated Press

Our guest is Yoletty Bracho, PhD candidate in Political Sciences at the Université Lumière Lyon 2 in France. Her research focuses on participatory public policies during the Chavista era in Venezuela.

Episode 11: Our guest is Carlos José Faillace Carreño, Venezuelan urbanist, intellectual omnivore, and preventive pessimist.

Episode 10: Our guest is Antulio Rosales, assistant professor of political science at the University of New Brunswick, and a researcher focused on natural resource extraction, energy and global development, with a focus on Venezuela and Latin America.

Episode 9: Our guest is Maria Isabel Puerta Riera, visiting professor of political science and international politics at Valencia College, and Secretary for the Latin American Studies Association's Venezuelan Studies section. Her new book is The Crisis of democracy: on the Threshold of Post Democracy?

Episode 8: Our guest is Xili Fernandez, Venezuelan political scientist and feminist activist, with an extensive trajectory of humanitarian work in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. She is the editor and founder of Venezuelan Voices together with Simon Rodriguez. For more information on Linda Loaiza's story and the historic Inter-American Court of Human Rights' ruling see: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/dec/10/i-was-sexually-abused-humiliated-beaten-legal-victory-great-balm-linda-loaiza.  Photo credit: Iván E. ReyesFollow us on X at @venecopodcastFollow Juan on X at @juanandresmisleMusic by Amasonic Vibes & Simón DíazEmail us at [email protected] more information, visit http://venecopodcast.com

Episodio 7: Nuestra invitada es Luz Mely Reyes, periodista, analista política, directora y cofundadora de Efecto Cocuyo. Galardonada Premio Internacional a la Libertad de Prensa del Comité para la Protección de Periodistas (CPJ), Premio Gabriel García Márquez de Periodismo 2018, y Premio WOLA de Derechos Humanos. Su más reciente proyecto es Venezuela Migrante.Follow us on X at @venecopodcastFollow Juan on X at @juanandresmisleMusic by Amasonic Vibes & Simón DíazEmail us at [email protected] more information, visit http://venecopodcast.com

Episode 6 - Border Edition: Our guests are Aragorn Storm Miller, professor at Central Texas College and author of Precarious Paths to Freedom: The United States, Venezuela, and the Latin American Cold War; and Robert A. Karl, assistant professor of History at Princeton University and the author of Forgotten Peace: Reform, Violence, and the making of contemporary Colombia.Follow us on X at @venecopodcastFollow Juan on X at @juanandresmisleMusic by Amasonic Vibes & Simón DíazEmail us at [email protected] more information, visit http://venecopodcast.com

Episode 5: Our guest is Jennifer McCoy, professor of political science at Georgia State University, conflict analyst, international mediator, and former director of the Carter Center’s Americas program. Her latest book co-authored by Francisco Diez is International Mediation in Venezuela. Follow us on X at @venecopodcastFollow Juan on X at @juanandresmisleMusic by Amasonic Vibes & Simón DíazEmail us at [email protected] more information, visit http://venecopodcast.com

Episodio 4: Nuestra invitada en esta edición en Español es Margarita López Maya, historiadora y profesora titular jubilada del Centro de Estudios del Desarrollo (CENDES) de la Universidad Central de Venezuela. Fue directora de la Revista Venezolana de Economía y Ciencias Sociales y presidenta de la Sección de Estudios Venezolanistas del Latin American Studies Association. Su más reciente libro es El ocaso del Chavismo: Venezuela 2005-2015.Follow us on X at @venecopodcastFollow Juan on X at @juanandresmisleMusic by Amasonic Vibes & Simón DíazEmail us at [email protected] more information, visit http://venecopodcast.com

Episode 3: Our guest is Clifton Ross, acclaimed writer, director, producer, poet, and co-author of “Until the Rulers Obey: Voices from Latin American Social Movements”. He has been reporting on Latin American revolutionary and social movements since 1982. His new documentary film is “In the Shadow of the Revolution.”Follow us on X at @venecopodcastFollow Juan on X at @juanandresmisleMusic by Amasonic Vibes & Simón DíazEmail us at [email protected] more information, visit http://venecopodcast.com

Episode 2: Our guest is Alejandro Velasco, associate professor of Latin American History at New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study and Executive Director at North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA). His book is Barrio Rising: Urban popular politics and the making of Modern Venezuela.Follow us on X at @venecopodcastFollow Juan on X at @juanandresmisleMusic by Amasonic Vibes & Simón DíazEmail us at [email protected] more information, visit http://venecopodcast.com

Episode 1: Our guest is Javier Corrales, professor of Political Science at Amherst College and co-author of Dragon in the Tropics: The Life and Legacy of Hugo ChávezFollow us on X at @venecopodcastFollow Juan on X at @juanandresmisleMusic by Amasonic Vibes & Simón DíazEmail us at [email protected] more information, visit http://venecopodcast.com