Washington, D.C. — The growing crisis in Venezuela demands immediate, peaceful, and concerted action by the United States and the international community to help the Venezuelan people and the region, according to a new issue brief from the Center for American Progress.
The brief argues that several options short of the use of force are available to address the refugee crisis and put greater pressure on the repressive regime of Nicolás Maduro. That includes halting the deportation of undocumented Venezuelan immigrants, offering temporary protective status to all Venezuelans currently in the United States, and increasing admission caps for Venezuelan refugees.
“The crisis unfolding in Venezuela demands that the United States and the international community exhaust the peaceful tools at their disposal to come to the assistance of the Venezuelan people,” said Dan Restrepo, a senior fellow at CAP and author of the issue brief.
The Trump administration can isolate key figures in the Maduro regime by prosecuting them for drug trafficking and money laundering offenses in the United States, banning them from using the U.S. financial system, and expanding sanction against Cubans involved in repression in Venezuela, the issue brief says.
The international community can also cooperate with the United States to investigate regime figures responsible for human rights violations and deny access to key regime officials to financial systems throughout the Americas.
Read the issue brief: “Venezuela in Crisis: A Way Forward” by Dan Restrepo
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Sam Hananel at [email protected] or 202-478-6327.