07 July 2026

ICCAL is launching its very own ICCAL Blog dedicated to publications grounded in the philosophy of the Ius Constitutionale Commune in Latin America (ICCAL), with the aim of fostering academic exchange on recent developments regarding the rule of law, human rights, and democracy in the region.

Through brief contributions from scholars and representatives of the community of practice, the blog seeks to foster reflections that complement the research and publications of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law within the scope of ICCAL.

Our blog features various publication formats. Articles are individual academic analyses on topics of comparative public law, human rights, or transformative constitutionalism, and constitute the blog’s primary format. Symposia bring together thematic discussions by multiple authors on a single topic, published in a series, and may lead to collective publications. The interviews feature conversations with researchers, judges, and other legal professionals from the ICCAL network, presented in a more accessible format, with the aim of broadening the blog’s reach to an audience beyond the strictly academic sphere. Finally, the reviews offer brief, critical assessments of relevant publications in ICCAL’s thematic areas.

First series of publications: #IATV for a democratic transition in Venezuela

The first symposium published in this space is based on the seminar “The Ius Constitutionale Commune in Latin America as a Cornerstone for Venezuela’s Democratic Transition,” held on May 20 and 21, 2026. As will be discussed throughout the symposium, the re-Inter-Americanization of Venezuela —including its reintegration into the Inter-American System as a legal obligation and the recognition of its tools as a plan for institutional reconstruction– constitutes an essential part of the project.

The symposium brings together several of the contributions presented during May’s Seminar and aims to continue expanding with new contributions generated by the ICCAL-Venezuela project and the Academic Initiative for Venezuela’s Transition (#IATV). Within the framework of the blog’s overall objective, it brings together proposals for paths toward transition in Venezuela, comparative perspectives, and insights for envisioning the country’s future. The May seminar brought to the table lessons from transitions as diverse as those in Spain, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, and Syria a dialogue that continues in this space.

This first session, taking place from July 7 to 11, features contributions from Mariela Morales Antoniazzi and Edward Pérez; Carolina Bejarano Martínez; Sofía Macher; Jesús María Casal; Thairi Moya Sánchez; Leon Seidl; Constanza Núñez Donald; Zulima Sánchez; Franca María Feisel; and Ariel Sánchez Meertens.

July 7, 2026

• Introduction to the Blog Symposium on Transition in Venezuela: Re-Inter-Americanization as a Roadmap (Mariela Morales Antoniazzi and Edward Pérez) opens the symposium by placing Venezuela’s re-Inter-Americanization– as a legal duty and as an operational plan for institutional reconstruction—at the center of the democratic transition project, drawing on two decades of Inter-American jurisprudence as a technical framework for the reconstruction of the state.
• The Democratic Transition in Venezuela Is an Inter-American Issue (Carolina Bejarano Martínez) analyzes the Venezuelan crisis as a comprehensive crisis of democratic constitutionalism affecting the entire inter-American region, and frames the transition as a simultaneous reconstruction of the rule of law, democracy, and human rights.

July 8, 2026

• Summary of the Findings of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela (Sofía Macher) summarizes the Mission’s work, which documented serious human rights violations constituting crimes against humanity, and underscores the importance of these international mechanisms for accountability at this stage.
• A Constitutional Perspective on Venezuelan Democratization (Jesús María Casal) examines the extent to which recent reforms have truly opened up the political system and proposes a democratization agenda centered on judicial independence, political dialogue, and free and verifiable elections.

July 9, 2026

• The Ius Constitutionale Commune in the Face of State-Sponsored Organized Crime (Thairi Moya Sánchez) proposes interpreting institutional erosion in the region as a form of state-sponsored organized crime and suggests the ICCAL as a framework for rebuilding institutions through multilevel protection, conventionality review, and judicial dialogue.
• Irrelevant Law: U.S. Foreign Policy Under Trump (Leon Seidl) argues that international law has lost its influence in U.S. foreign policy toward Venezuela, so support for a genuine transition must come from the region and its institutions.

July 10, 2026

• Transitional Justice for Venezuela: Lessons from the Chilean Case (Constanza Núñez Donald) draws on the Chilean experience to argue that transitional justice is, above all, a political process in which truth, justice, and guarantees of non-repetition advance at different paces depending on the context.
• The Paradox of the Spanish Transition: Gradual Lessons and Challenges of Historical Memory for Venezuela (Zulima Sánchez) analyzes the gradual nature of the Spanish transition and its unresolved issues regarding historical memory, as a basis for considering a potential institutional transformation in Venezuela.

July 11, 2026

• Borrowing from Brussels? What the EU’s Democracy Standards Can Offer a Democratic Transition (Franca María Feisel) explores which elements of European Union law– particularly regarding democratic participation—could inspire a democratic transition in Venezuela.
• Alchemy of Peace: Lessons from Colombia for Venezuela (Ariel Sánchez Meertens) presents Colombia’s experience with restorative transitional justice as a laboratory of possibilities, limitations, and tensions relevant to the design of a potential Venezuelan transitional architecture.