Introduction to the Blog Symposium on the Transition in Venezuela: Re-Inter-Americanization as a Roadmap

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Venezuela is undergoing a transition that does not necessarily lead to democracy. The capture of Nicolás Maduro, following the U.S. military intervention of January 2026, did not dismantle the authoritarian structure; rather, it reorganized it under external tutelage. This uncertainty was compounded, on 24 June, by a devastating earthquake to which the State failed to respond. Against this bleak backdrop, Latin American academia is assuming the responsibility of providing insights and support to help steer the transition described toward a successful outcome, drawing on diverse experiences. As will be explored in greater depth, Venezuela’s re-Inter-Americanization—including its reintegration into the Inter-American System as a legal obligation and the recognition of its tools and resources as a plan for institutional reconstruction—is an essential part of this project. This blog post serves as an introduction to an ICCAL symposium devoted to that roadmap.

A Transition without Democratic Direction[1]

The situation following the U.S. intervention of 3 January 2026 resembles that of a protectorate under the patronage of the United States of America. As the U.S. government itself has confirmed, its interests are concentrated in the oil sector, rather than in the restoration of democracy through a human rights-centered process. The transition is being administered from abroad, with little meaningful participation by civil society or political groups other than those aligned with the ruling regime.

The ongoing institutional renewal confirms this ambiguity. The appointment of a new Attorney General, the reconfiguration of the Office of the Ombudsperson, and the process of renewing the Judiciary are advancing through opaque channels and under the influence of the ruling regime. These are gestures of reorganization, not of democratic opening. A transition worthy of that name must be led by Venezuela’s democratic forces and supported by the international community. This is not the case today.

All of the above has been further aggravated by two earthquakes whose impact is incalculable. On 24 June, two earthquakes of magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 struck the country’s north-central region, directly affecting nearly four million people. Thousands have died both as a result of the earthquakes and because of the State’s failures to respond to these circumstances. Indeed, the State response was delayed and disorganized. Particularly in La Guaira, local residents have led the search and rescue of survivors with their own hands, while official assistance was slow to arrive. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights warned that the emergency response must be governed by international human rights standards.

The earthquakes pose an additional obstacle to any possible democratic transition. Alongside Venezuela’s re-institutionalization comes the need to repair the damage caused by the earthquakes and to address the State’s shortcomings in the prevention of, and response to, such natural disasters.

The ICCAL and the IATV: Academia Accompanies the Process

This contribution argues that democratic reconstruction is a regional challenge. For this reason, the Ius Constitutionale Commune in Latin America (ICCAL) promotes several projects aimed at guiding Venezuela’s transition. In its academic dimension, the ICCAL serves as an incubating space for the Academic Initiative for Venezuela’s Transition (IATV), which brings together a regional community of practice that contributes legal tools, comparative experiences, and academic monitoring to the process. The purpose of this initiative is to accompany the transition and all its actors.

Within the framework of the ICCAL and the IATV, two collective works have been developed: Paths and Standards for the Transition in Venezuela and The Response of the Ius Constitutionale Commune to Autocratization: The Case of Venezuela. These works laid the foundations for this undertaking. In addition, an international seminar held at the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg in May continued the discussion and brought together scholars, practitioners, and civil society organizations from across the region. Furthermore, today, 6 July, marks the beginning of the publication of this symposium, coinciding with the first presentation by members of the Initiative at the World Congress of Constitutional Law in Bogotá.

Re-Inter-Americanization as a Roadmap

At the core of this proposal lies re-Inter-Americanization, understood both as the legal duty to return to the Inter-American System and as an operational plan for reconstruction and re-institutionalization grounded in the normative developments of the System itself. This plan is materialized through international judgments which, by virtue of conventionality control and the duty to comply with international obligations, are binding on the State. This duty was further consolidated from the perspective of the System following the decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the Chirinos Salamanca case and Advisory Opinion No. 26. These confirmed the continuing jurisdiction of its institutions over the State, as well as the full validity of the inter-American obligations that Venezuela had already recognized, despite its attempts to withdraw from the American Convention and the Charter of the Organization of American States.

In this regard, two decades of inter-American judgments offer a technical blueprint for rebuilding the State. For example, the Capriles case required minimum electoral guarantees, while the Reverón and Chocrón cases established measures for restoring judicial independence. The Rodríguez Pacheco and Díaz Peña cases provided guidance for the re-institutionalization of the health sector. More recently, the Rojas Riera case ordered, as a measure of memorialization in response to serious human rights violations, the closure of the torture center known as “El Helicoide.” Other judgments addressed the prohibition of gender-based violence, freedom of expression, and political rights. These guarantees of non-repetition are conceptualized as structural reparations for democratic transition: a roadmap that can be activated when the political conditions for transition make this possible.

Re-Inter-Americanization expresses, above all, the multilevel protection of human rights. It articulates the domestic, inter-American, and universal levels within a single architecture of guarantees. It is not imposed from above: it is built from below, centered on victims and with civil society as a condition of legitimacy. This symposium is grounded in the shared regional language of human rights rooted in the Inter-American System.

Upcoming Blog Articles

This symposium brings together several of the contributions presented during the May seminar and seeks to continue expanding over time through further contributions generated by the ICCAL-Venezuela project and the IATV. It brings together scholars, practitioners, and other experts from Venezuela and the rest of the region. The symposium seeks to offer proposals for reflection, comparative perspectives, and resources for thinking about the country’s future. The May seminar brought to the fore lessons from transitions as diverse as those of Spain, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, and Syria, and that dialogue continues in this space.

[1]A more detailed account of our assessment of the state of Venezuela’s transition was previously published in Agenda Estado de Derecho. That publication predates the earthquake discussed here.