Native New Mexican and international correspondent for the New York Times, Simon Romero, has spent most of his career writing for Bloomberg and the New York Times in Venezuela, Brazil and Mexico.
On Thursday, April 2, the University of New Mexico Latin American and Iberian Institute hosted “Venezuela After Maduro,” a talk with Romero discussing the political and socioeconomic changes in the country in the wake of Nicolas Maduro’s capture by the United States in January.
“I have been covering the events of the past several months in Venezuela, which have been truly illuminating, but my experience with Venezuela goes back a long, long way, and what I’ve seen in the country, just in the past several weeks, is one of the most paradigm-shifting political processes anywhere in the world in recent years,” Romero said.
Romero gave an overview of the political space in Venezuela in the years before Maduro — who took power after the passing of his predecessor Hugo Chavez in 2013 — Maduro’s tenure as president and the state of the country after his capture on Jan. 3 as former vice president Delcy Rodriguez took power. Maduro’s capture was part of Operation Southern Spear, a U.S military counter-narco-terrorism campaign aimed at drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere.
“Since (the capture), we’ve seen something really remarkable happening in Venezuela that we haven’t seen in Latin America for many decades,” Romero said. “Instead of regime change, this was something more akin to regime compliance. It’s a vivid illustration of the United States using both its military and economic strength, effectively turning one of the countries in our hemisphere into a vassal state.”
After Maduro’s capture, Venezuela, under the leadership of Rodriguez, has begun taking steps to become less oppressive, including allowing foreign journalists to return to the country. Romero recently received a visa and was able to visit Caracas for the first time in many years.
“What I saw simply floored me. All of the changes that had taken place in Venezuela over the last decade have just been immense,” Romero said. “Caracas is also much safer than it was before. When we lived there, a lot of people would avoid going out at night for fear of being kidnapped or abducted or murdered or carjackings all the time, and now it’s fine to walk around the city.”
The vast amount of people who have fled the country have left Caracas, once a frenetic, traffic-congested city, remarkably empty, Romero said.
When Romero interviewed Venezuelans living in Caracas, he noticed a state of shock among those who remained in the country.
Many Venezuelans Romero spoke to wished to see elections and a democratic transition, while others were skeptical as to whether anything good would come from the U.S taking control of Venezuela’s oil industry.
“Of course, one of the most important outcomes of the recent events in Venezuela doesn’t involve Venezuela at all, but other countries around the world we’re seeing, like Cuba and Iran, which are still viewed as adversaries of the United States,” Romero said.
Joseph Garcia, a professor in the department of Chicano and Chicana Studies at UNM, attended the event.
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“(The talk) is great. It creates a conversation. I don’t agree with everything (Romero) said, but for the most part, he’s on point. I mean, it was quite interesting,” Garcia said. “I’ve known about Simon (Romero) for many years, and I think it’s quite amazing that he’s from here, that he’s been able to do what he’s been able to do. It was quite a privilege.”
Barbara Grothus, a community member, attended the talk on her day off.
“I think it’s important to hear this voice, here in our state, a local person who’s gone on to have a career in Central and South America, coming with some real valid reporting, and I didn’t want to miss it,” Grothus said.
Maria Fernandez is the copy editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at copy@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
