Latin & South America

[Nataly Santana Sánchez is a doctoral candidate at the University of Essex. Her research focuses on reproductive violence and transitional justice. Prior to joining the University of Essex, she worked advising the Ministry of Women of the Dominican Republic on the implementation of international human rights law into domestic laws and policies.] Throughout history, forced sterilisation has been a weapon of...

[Juliana Moreira Mendonça (Brazil) is a visiting researcher at the Department of Security Studies of Georgetown University, a Public Defender in Rio de Janeiro State and Associate Personnel at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Professor Claudia Martin (Argentina) is the Co-Director of the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and Professorial Lecturer in Residence at American University Washington College of Law. She...

[Victoria Capriles is a Venezuelan feminist attorney and academic. She is currently a visiting fellow at the T.M.C. Asser Institute, where her doctoral research examines the severe Venezuelan migratory and refugee crisis. Geraldine Chacón Villarroel is a Venezuelan attorney and public policy consultant. A former Amnesty International-designated prisoner of conscience, she has worked as a human rights consultant for organisations such as the...

[Victoria Capriles is a Venezuelan feminist attorney and academic. She is currently a visiting fellow at the T.M.C. Asser Institute, where her doctoral research examines the severe Venezuelan migratory and refugee crisis. Geraldine Chacón Villarroel is a Venezuelan attorney and public policy consultant. A former Amnesty International-designated prisoner of conscience, she has worked as a human rights consultant for organisations such...

[Ariel Costa holds a doctorate in public international law and has worked with universities and research institutions across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The author lives in the US on a temporary research visa. They are writing under a pseudonym because they are concerned this post will subject them to arrest or removal proceedings.] On January 3, US forces captured Venezuela’s...

[Thairi Moya Sánchez (PhD) is a full-time professor of public international law at Complutense University of Madrid] Leer en español / A Spanish version of this post is available here. Over recent months, the Venezuela file has moved into an accelerated escalation: international airlines suspended or curtailed operations amid official safety advisories and mounting regional military risk; Washington announced coercive maritime...

[Diana Kearney is a former Visiting Instructor of Clinical Law at Cardozo Law School Human Rights & Atrocity Prevention Clinic] The Trump administration’s abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and subsequent announcement that the U.S. intends to run the nation is the administration’s most shocking move to date– a tall order for a President that has generated a steady torrent of...

[Efrén Ismael Sifontes Torres is an Ayudante de Segunda in international law courses and a member of the Observatory of International Humanitarian Law at the University of Buenos Aires School of Law] As a Venezuelan and an international lawyer, it took me some time to pause and reflect on the repercussions of the events that have shaken, and continue to shake,...

[Federico Jarast is Jefe de Trabajos Prácticos at Buenos Aires University School of Law. He has served as Legal Adviser at the General Direction of Legal Affairs of the Argentine Presidency and worked as an Associate at Guglielmino Derecho Internacional.] In less than a week, 2026 has proved that it will spare no efforts in shaking the foundations of international law. For...

[Davit Khachatryan is an international law expert and lecturer specializing in public international law, alternative dispute resolution, investment law, international humanitarian law, and security] A short video clip circulating online appears to show a US strike on a small vessel at sea, followed by imagery that has been read as suggesting that there were survivors in the water. The clip has...

[Milena Sterio is James A. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Law at Cleveland State University College of Law and Managing Director of the Public International Law and Policy Group] The United States’ attack on Venezuela, as well as the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, have no justification in international law or international relations. This post will first discuss...

[Dr Chiara Redaelli is a research fellow at the University of Geneva, IHL and ICL expert with the International Development Law Organization Ukraine Office and co-editor in chief of the on the Use of Force and International Law] From Drug Boats to Battlefields? The United States’ Classification of the “War on Drugs” In September 2025, the Trump administration began describing U.S. counter-narcotics...