Venezuela's presidential election will be neither free nor fair, meaning the United States will likely uphold oil sanctions, which will fuel migrant outflows by deepening the country's economic crisis. Venezuela will hold presidential elections on July 28. Amid pressure from the international community, President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leaders signed the Barbados Agreement in October 2023 to ensure the presidential race would be competitive, which saw the United States temporarily suspend its sanctions on the country's oil, gas and mining sectors that made it illegal for U.S. firms to do business with Venezuelan state-run enterprises. However, to clear his path to victory, Maduro has since used his influence over judicial and electoral bodies, as well as the media, to sideline, silence and persecute opposition leaders, including Maria Corina Machado, who had been the opposition's leading presidential candidate before a Supreme Court ruling in January barred her from running for office. Against...
