Venezuela’s leading opposition figure returns home
After ten months in exile, Maria Corina Machado is back in Venezuela. Until now she has been largely sidelined by the Trump administration, which ousted strongman Nicolás Maduro in January and installed his deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, instead. Machado wants elections by July, and polls show she is the country’s most popular political figure. Rodríguez has pledged a vote, but given no timetable, and is currently holding US-backed talks with parts of the opposition that exclude Machado. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has focused on securing control over Venezuela’s vast oil resources, striking controversial deals that Machado herself has criticized. Washington has tacitly allowed Venezuela to bar Machado’s return at least half a dozen times in recent weeks. But with popular pressure growing inside of Venezuela, the White House relented. Now the intrigue begins: Rodríguez is pliant but widely reviled, while Machado is popular but has criticized Trump’s approach so far.
Students oust Serbian longtime leader
Serbia’s student-backed protest movement ousted Aleksandar Vučić and his SNS party in Sunday’s parliamentary election. The Student List party – candidates endorsed by the student protesters – won 140 seats to SNS’s 103, giving them an outright majority. Although many expected Vučić to contest the results, he quickly conceded. Now, student leaders face a major question: how do you actually run a country? Their movement over the last two years was built around opposition to corruption they associate with Vučić and the SNS, but will have to start delivering on their promises of reform. Many of the Student List candidates who won lack political experience: they are former academics or popular figures who were chosen because they had no ties to either the ruling party or the traditional opposition. They now face the daunting task of unwinding 14 years of SNS rule while also learning how to govern a country.
Algeria to send troops to Niger amid security concerns
Algeria announced over the weekend that it would send troops to its southern neighbor Niger, its first overseas military deployment since it sent forces to Egypt during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. Islamist insurgencies have intensified across Niger and the broader Sahel following a series of military coups in recent years, and Algeria is increasingly concerned about security along its southern border. It’s also worried about its energy interests in the region, including a planned pipeline that would transport natural gas from Nigeria through Niger and to Algeria. The move is a significant change for Algeria, which has typically avoided military involvement abroad in recent decades and maintains tense relationships with several of its neighbors. Until recently, its constitution restricted the military from operating outside the country’s borders. But a constitutional amendment in 2020 opened the door to foreign deployments, and Algeria now appears ready to put that authority to use.
