Attending "The U.S. Moves on Venezuela" Event with the UChicago Institute of Politics

Kerem Tasdan, MPP Class of 2026, writes about the Institute of Politics’s January pop-up event, “The U.S. Moves on Venezuela,” and how the combined histories, economics, and social movements of the region all play into the current geopolitical situation.

I didn’t know what to expect walking into the Institute of Politics house on that cold Tuesday morning. The event I was attending, “The U.S. Moves on Venezuela” was originally supposed to focus on the U.S. campaign against Nicolás Maduro. Instead, just ten days after the Venezuelan president’s capture, the conversation had shifted toward the culmination of those moves.

The panel, moderated by the IOP’s Jennifer Steinhauer, brought together experts from a variety of backgrounds—Congressman Don Bacon (R-NE); Julian Barnes, U.S. intelligence and international security reporter at The New York Times; University of Chicago political science professor Michael Albertus; and Génesis Dávila, human rights lawyer and founder of Defiende Venezuela.

Each panelist brought something beyond their professional backgrounds to the event. Congressman Bacon focused on the political and legislative ramifications of the U.S. action. Professor Albertus analyzed Maduro’s capture through a historical lens. Dávila provided the crucial perspective of Venezuelans on the ground, raising questions of how the international community should reckon with the regime’s human rights violations in a post-Maduro era. Julian Barnes, meanwhile, grappled with the journalistic challenges of covering a story like this: How much do we really know—are all the cards on the table? What was the underlying motivation? What comes next for Venezuela?

The last question proved the most challenging for the panel. Even when they agreed on the basic reality—that a foreign leader was captured by the U.S.—they differed in how they interpreted their implications.

I especially appreciated hearing Dávila share how Venezuelans on the ground are viewing the situation. It was a sobering reminder of the real-world impact policy has. Predicting the outcomes of foreign policy is difficult—whether you’re a policymaker, journalist, advocate, or even an academic. I enjoyed having the privilege of hearing these experts discuss the different motivations—and possible outcomes—of foreign policy decisions and look forward to more IOP events during the academic year.

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