Venezuela Game Show

[Luisa Rodocker]

At least four people died in the two days of protests, the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict, a human rights group, told ABC News -- with 239 injured. Foro Penal, a Venezuelan prisoner rights group, reported that 205 people had been detained this week, including 15 minors.

Maduro, who has faced months of protests over the country's economic collapse and his consolidation of power, made a show of force Thursday, appearing on state television with soldiers and vowing to combat \"traitors.\"

The streets of the capital Caracas appeared to have settled Thursday after two days of clashes between security forces still loyal to Maduro and supporters of Juan Guaid, the leader of the opposition controlled-National Assembly who was sworn in as interim president by that body in January. The U.S. and 53 other countries, including neighbors Colombia and Brazil, have recognized Guaid as the country's legitimate leader and urged Maduro to exit.

On Tuesday, that seemed likely. Guaid appeared in a predawn video with opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who had been under house arrest, saying their push to oust Maduro had entered its \"final phase.\" They called for an uprising in the streets and said they had the support of some of Maduro's key aides.

In particular, three senior officials -- Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, Presidential Guard chief Ivan Hernandez Dala, and Supreme Court chief justice Maikel Moreno -- were in talks with Guaid's supporters to declare their allegiance to the constitution, according to U.S. officials. Maduro himself was prepared to depart the country and fly to Cuba, his airplane ready on the tarmac, according to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who blamed Russia for a last-minute intervention that caused Maduro to stay.

Instead of joining demonstrators, security forces met them with force. Dozens were injured after an armored vehicle plowed through a crowd and rubber bullets and tear gas were used to disperse demonstrations.

A second day of protests on Wednesday met the same fate. Thousands marched through Caracas, many in support of Guaid and some in support of Maduro. Security forces again clashed with opposition protests, but there were no major defections.

The top Trump administration officials met at the White House Wednesday to consider next steps. Pompeo, National Security Advisor John Bolton, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford convened a meeting -- although it's unclear what, if any, decisions were reached.

Bolton has warned that \"all options\" remain on the table, setting a red line over Guaid's protection: \"We want a peaceful transfer of power, but we are not going to see Guaid mistreated by this regime,\" he told MSNBC Wednesday.

But senior Pentagon officials have seemed to shoot down the prospect of any use of American force. Kathryn Wheelbarger, acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, told Congress Wednesday that the department was not preparing for a military conflict in Venezuela: \"We of course always review available options and plan for contingencies, but in this case we have not been given sort of orders that you're discussing,\" she told one Congressman.

Diplomacy, instead, is still in the lead. Pompeo spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Wednesday to urge the Russian government to end its support of Maduro. The Russian Foreign Ministry in turn blamed the U.S. for an \"illegal\" intervention in Venezuela's domestic affairs.

The study revealed a correlation between politically motivated arbitrary arrests, carried out by state security officials, and stigmatization, carried out by various media outlets. This analysis showed that, while in 2019 the general correlation between both variables was 29%, in 2020 it increased to 42% and in the first half of 2021 it reached 77%.

The annual correlations between arbitrary arrests and stigmatization also vary in relation to the different security forces involved in the arrests. In 2019, there is a greater correlation (74%) with arrests by intelligence agencies (Military Counter-Intelligence General Directorate, DGCIM, and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, SEBIN). In 2020 the correlation is greater (92%) with arrests by the units under the command of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB), including the Special Action Forces (FAES). And in 2021 the correlation is highest with civil and decentralized bodies, such as the FAES, municipal police forces and the Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations Corps (CICPC), where the correlation between arrest and stigmatization is 92%.

There is no doubt that there is a close relationship between agents of the Venezuelan state, public and private media outlets, and attacks against human rights defenders, which should not go unpunished

The organizations involved call on the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to consider including in its investigation into crimes against humanity in Venezuela the facts set out in this research, with a view to determining key actors, specific cases and possible participants in the crimes against humanity of arbitrary deprivation of liberty and persecution. They also call on the international community to continue supporting the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission in its mandate to contribute to accountability for human rights violations in Venezuela since 2014.

The all-time monthly record in border crossings by Venezuelans partially fueled a yearly high in unauthorized arrivals along the southern border in September, making up roughly a quarter of more than 200,000 apprehensions reported by Border Patrol last month. On some days, as many as 3,000 migrants from Venezuela crossed into the U.S. illegally in 24 hours, the internal DHS figures show.

The tens of thousands of Venezuelan arrivals along the U.S.-Mexico border in September eclipsed the previous monthly record set in September 2022, when nearly 34,000 migrants from Venezuela entered Border Patrol custody.

The unprecedented influx of Venezuelan migrants has further complicated the Biden administration's migration strategy, both operationally and politically. Venezuela's refusal to accept U.S. deportations and Mexico's decision to only accept a limited number of Venezuelans means most of them are released from federal custody near the border. From there, many head to Democratic-led cities like New York and Chicago that are already strained by the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants.

More than 2 million migrants were apprehended by Border Patrol in fiscal year 2023, which ended last week, only the second time in U.S. history that threshold has been surpassed, according to internal DHS figures. While some of them were deported or returned to Mexico, many migrants have been released and allowed to seek asylum, a process that, on average, takes years to be resolved.

The record arrivals of Venezuelans have occurred despite Biden administration policies designed to discourage Venezuelans from entering the U.S. without authorization by offering them opportunities to enter the country legally.

It also vividly illustrates the massive scale of the exodus from Venezuela, now the largest external displacement crisis in the world. In recent years, more than 7 million people have left Venezuela, a once prosperous country that has faced a political and socio-economic crisis under an authoritarian socialist government.

While most initially settled in Colombia, Peru and other South American countries, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have trekked to the U.S. southern border in the past two years. Many of them have traversed Mexico and Central America, including Panama's infamous Darin Gap, to reach American soil.

In September alone, 75,268 migrants crossed the Darin jungle, the second-highest monthly tally ever recorded, only behind the 82,000 crossings reported there in August, Panamanian government officials told CBS News. More than 400,000 people have crossed that roadless jungle on foot this year.

After the number of Venezuelans arriving to the southern border soared in 2022, the Biden administration unveiled a two-pronged strategy to deter them from entering the U.S. illegally. It convinced Mexico to take back some migrants from Venezuela who crossed the U.S. border without authorization, and launched a program to allow Venezuelans to fly into the country legally if Americans agreed to sponsor them.

Those policies were expanded to include migrants from Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua in Jan. 2023, when the Biden administration also started allowing Venezuelans and other migrants to use a phone app to request an opportunity to enter the U.S. at an official border port of entry.

The strategy had an immediate impact, fueling a sharp drop in illegal entries by migrants from the four targeted countries. Unlawful border entries by Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans have remained far below their peaks in recent years. But the trend was relatively short-lived for Venezuelans, lasting for a few months before illegal crossings by Venezuelans increased sharply again this spring.

Last month, the Biden administration offered work permits and deportation protections to nearly half a million Venezuelans who arrived in the U.S. before July 31, in part to address concerns from big-city Democrats who had been demanding a move that would allow migrants to work legally more quickly. While those who have arrived since the end of July do not qualify for the relief, known as Temporary Protected Status, some officials have internally voiced concerns about the move encouraging more Venezuelans to travel to the U.S.

"They're in a bit of a bind. It's the new normal. And there's not much you can do to block it along the migration route," Isacson said. "The numbers are bigger than anything Mexico would take. You can't deport them to Caracas, nor should you because a lot of these people would face danger."

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