Protesters to the opposition are covered with shields in front of the attacks of tear gas bombs that the Venezuelan National Guard fired to disperse the march destined the Ministry of Interior and Justice in the center of Caracas.May 18, 2017 - Caracas, Venezuela. Adrian Manzol/Zuma Press/PA Images. All rights reserved.
Amid the tumult on the streets of Venezuela, which has cost dozens of lives in the past six weeks, two crucially important, and related, events threaten to spur even greater violence and eclipse all possibility of international engagement aimed at redressing the country’s plight.
One was the announcement on 23 April by Foreign Minister Delcy Rodríguez that the country would withdraw from the Organization of American States (OAS) in response to what the government of Nicolás Maduro sees as “interference” in Venezuela’s internal affairs. The other move, which immediately incensed protesters and brought widespread foreign repudiation, was a presidential decree of 1 May convening an assembly to rewrite the country’s constitution.
