Diplomacy & Defense Think Tank News

La crisis de desplazamiento venezolana se ha convertido en un momento decisivo en la dinámica migratoria Sur-Sur en toda América Latina. Desde 2015, la grave escasez de alimentos y medicamentos, la creciente inflación y las violaciones generalizadas de los derechos humanos han provocado un éxodo masivo desde Venezuela. En junio de 2024, el agravamiento del colapso humanitario y económico bajo el gobierno autoritario de Nicolás Maduro, en el poder desde 2013, había obligado a al menos 7,7 millones de venezolanos a abandonar el país. De ellos, 6,5 millones permanecen en América Latina y el Caribe, y casi 3 millones residen en Colombia.
Esta situación ha supuesto un reto importante para el Gobierno colombiano durante la última década. Por un lado, las instituciones colombianas no estaban preparadas para gestionar un gran número de refugiados. Por otro lado, las comunidades de acogida han tenido que hacer frente a problemas socioeconómicos estructurales de larga data, como la pobreza y la informalidad laboral. Además, los recientes cambios en la política estadounidense y los enormes recortes en la ayuda han deteriorado aún más la situación en Colombia.
Este informe de políticas se centra en las dinámicas de la cohesión social en el contexto colombiano del desplazamiento de venezolanos y colombianos retornados. Muestra que las narrativas negativas sobre los venezolanos han disminuido en los últimos diez años. Ambas comunidades han aprendido a convivir en relativa armonía a pesar de los continuos retos económicos y sociales a los que se enfrentan. Este informe de políticas ofrece recomendaciones para mejorar la cohesión social en las comunidades de 
acogida que reciben a los venezolanos desplazados en Colombia.
Mensajes políticos clave:
• Continuar con los programas de regularización, garantizar la igualdad de acceso a los servicios básicos y apoyar los esfuerzos de inclusión socioeconómica y cultural de los gobiernos a nivel local para la población venezolana y las comunidades de acogida, especialmente en lo que respecta al acceso al mercado laboral.
• Colaborar con los actores locales que trabajan en la construcción de la paz, tanto estatales como no estatales, para desarrollar una comprensión común de la violencia en Colombia y de las rutas de asistencia del Estado para los venezolanos afectados y sus comunidades de acogida. Muchos venezolanos tienen dificultades para comprender el prolongado conflicto colombiano y cómo la violencia impregna la sociedad y sus comunidades de acogida.
• Aprovechar los esfuerzos locales para frenar la xenofobia y la discriminación por parte de las mujeres líderes comunitarias que han ayudado a abordar estas cuestiones conjuntamente con venezolanas y colombianas. Las cuestiones de xenofobia y discriminación, en particular hacia las mujeres y las personas LGBTQ+, perjudican la cohesión social.
• Abordar las narrativas negativas que se difunden principalmente a través de los medios de comunicación convencionales y, en algunos casos, por parte de los políticos locales, con verificación de datos y mensajes positivos sobre la migración.

Stéphanie López Villamil es socia investigadora de IDOS y consultora independiente.

The Venezuelan displacement crisis has become a defining moment in South-South migration dynamics across Latin America. Since 2015, severe food shortages, medicine scarcity, soaring inflation and widespread human rights violations have driven a massive exodus from Venezuela. By June 2024, the deepening humanitarian and economic collapse under Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian government – in power since 2013 – had forced at least 7.7 million Venezuelans to leave the country. Of these, 6.5 million remain in Latin America and the Caribbean, with nearly 3 million residing in Colombia.
This situation has posed a significant challenge for the Colombian government over the past decade. On the one hand, Colombian institutions were not equipped to manage large numbers of refugees. On the other hand, host communities have had to deal with long-standing structural socioeconomic issues such as poverty and job informality. Additionally, recent US policy shifts and immense aid cuts have further deteriorated the situation in Colombia. 
This policy brief focuses on social cohesion dynamics in the Colombian context of the displacement of Venezuelans and Colombian returnees. It shows that negative narratives about Venezuelans have declined over the past ten years. Both communities have learned to live jointly in relative harmony despite the ongoing economic and social challenges they face. This policy brief offers recommendations 
for improving social cohesion in host communities that receive displaced Venezuelans in Colombia.
Key policy messages:
• Continue regularisation programmes, ensure equal access to basic services and support socioeconomic and cultural inclusion efforts from governments at the local level for Venezuelans and host communities, especially regarding access to the labour market. 
• Engage with local peacebuilding actors, both non-state and state, to develop a shared understanding of violence in Colombia and the State’s assistance pathways for affected Venezuelans and their host communities. Many Venezuelans struggle to understand the long-standing Colombian conflict and how the violence permeates society and their host communities. 
• Build on the local efforts to tamp down xenophobia and discrimination by women community leaders who have helped address these jointly with Venezuelans and Colombians. Issues of xenophobia and discrimination, particularly towards women and LGBTQ+ persons, harm social cohesion. 
• Address negative narratives that are spread mostly through mainstream media, and, in some cases, by local politicians, with fact-checking and positive messages around migration. 

Stéphanie López Villamil is an IDOS research partner and independent researcher.

 

The Venezuelan displacement crisis has become a defining moment in South-South migration dynamics across Latin America. Since 2015, severe food shortages, medicine scarcity, soaring inflation and widespread human rights violations have driven a massive exodus from Venezuela. By June 2024, the deepening humanitarian and economic collapse under Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian government – in power since 2013 – had forced at least 7.7 million Venezuelans to leave the country. Of these, 6.5 million remain in Latin America and the Caribbean, with nearly 3 million residing in Colombia.
This situation has posed a significant challenge for the Colombian government over the past decade. On the one hand, Colombian institutions were not equipped to manage large numbers of refugees. On the other hand, host communities have had to deal with long-standing structural socioeconomic issues such as poverty and job informality. Additionally, recent US policy shifts and immense aid cuts have further deteriorated the situation in Colombia. 
This policy brief focuses on social cohesion dynamics in the Colombian context of the displacement of Venezuelans and Colombian returnees. It shows that negative narratives about Venezuelans have declined over the past ten years. Both communities have learned to live jointly in relative harmony despite the ongoing economic and social challenges they face. This policy brief offers recommendations 
for improving social cohesion in host communities that receive displaced Venezuelans in Colombia.
Key policy messages:
• Continue regularisation programmes, ensure equal access to basic services and support socioeconomic and cultural inclusion efforts from governments at the local level for Venezuelans and host communities, especially regarding access to the labour market. 
• Engage with local peacebuilding actors, both non-state and state, to develop a shared understanding of violence in Colombia and the State’s assistance pathways for affected Venezuelans and their host communities. Many Venezuelans struggle to understand the long-standing Colombian conflict and how the violence permeates society and their host communities. 
• Build on the local efforts to tamp down xenophobia and discrimination by women community leaders who have helped address these jointly with Venezuelans and Colombians. Issues of xenophobia and discrimination, particularly towards women and LGBTQ+ persons, harm social cohesion. 
• Address negative narratives that are spread mostly through mainstream media, and, in some cases, by local politicians, with fact-checking and positive messages around migration. 

Stéphanie López Villamil is an IDOS research partner and independent researcher.

 

The Venezuelan displacement crisis has become a defining moment in South-South migration dynamics across Latin America. Since 2015, severe food shortages, medicine scarcity, soaring inflation and widespread human rights violations have driven a massive exodus from Venezuela. By June 2024, the deepening humanitarian and economic collapse under Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian government – in power since 2013 – had forced at least 7.7 million Venezuelans to leave the country. Of these, 6.5 million remain in Latin America and the Caribbean, with nearly 3 million residing in Colombia.
This situation has posed a significant challenge for the Colombian government over the past decade. On the one hand, Colombian institutions were not equipped to manage large numbers of refugees. On the other hand, host communities have had to deal with long-standing structural socioeconomic issues such as poverty and job informality. Additionally, recent US policy shifts and immense aid cuts have further deteriorated the situation in Colombia. 
This policy brief focuses on social cohesion dynamics in the Colombian context of the displacement of Venezuelans and Colombian returnees. It shows that negative narratives about Venezuelans have declined over the past ten years. Both communities have learned to live jointly in relative harmony despite the ongoing economic and social challenges they face. This policy brief offers recommendations 
for improving social cohesion in host communities that receive displaced Venezuelans in Colombia.
Key policy messages:
• Continue regularisation programmes, ensure equal access to basic services and support socioeconomic and cultural inclusion efforts from governments at the local level for Venezuelans and host communities, especially regarding access to the labour market. 
• Engage with local peacebuilding actors, both non-state and state, to develop a shared understanding of violence in Colombia and the State’s assistance pathways for affected Venezuelans and their host communities. Many Venezuelans struggle to understand the long-standing Colombian conflict and how the violence permeates society and their host communities. 
• Build on the local efforts to tamp down xenophobia and discrimination by women community leaders who have helped address these jointly with Venezuelans and Colombians. Issues of xenophobia and discrimination, particularly towards women and LGBTQ+ persons, harm social cohesion. 
• Address negative narratives that are spread mostly through mainstream media, and, in some cases, by local politicians, with fact-checking and positive messages around migration. 

Stéphanie López Villamil is an IDOS research partner and independent researcher.

 

Europe faces critical choices about its relationship with the rest of the world as it begin to negotiate the post 2028 EU budget. The broad consensus sees strength and prosperity of the Union in terms of its competitiveness, with research, innovation and skills at the heart of the European economy. As such, even actions focused on the needs and opportunities in Europe are defined in relation to other countries and global regions. This underscores the importance of ensuring the novel Global Europe funding instrument is designed correctly. Europe’s capacity to cooperate with the world, especially with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), will be shaped by the funding allocations and spending rules decided upon in the next months. However, there are questions about how research, innovation and higher education fits into this global outlook: will these aspects of cooperation with LMICs remain peripheral, or can they be recognised as a strategic enabler of European competitiveness and better implemented to address shared global challenges?

Europe faces critical choices about its relationship with the rest of the world as it begin to negotiate the post 2028 EU budget. The broad consensus sees strength and prosperity of the Union in terms of its competitiveness, with research, innovation and skills at the heart of the European economy. As such, even actions focused on the needs and opportunities in Europe are defined in relation to other countries and global regions. This underscores the importance of ensuring the novel Global Europe funding instrument is designed correctly. Europe’s capacity to cooperate with the world, especially with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), will be shaped by the funding allocations and spending rules decided upon in the next months. However, there are questions about how research, innovation and higher education fits into this global outlook: will these aspects of cooperation with LMICs remain peripheral, or can they be recognised as a strategic enabler of European competitiveness and better implemented to address shared global challenges?

Europe faces critical choices about its relationship with the rest of the world as it begin to negotiate the post 2028 EU budget. The broad consensus sees strength and prosperity of the Union in terms of its competitiveness, with research, innovation and skills at the heart of the European economy. As such, even actions focused on the needs and opportunities in Europe are defined in relation to other countries and global regions. This underscores the importance of ensuring the novel Global Europe funding instrument is designed correctly. Europe’s capacity to cooperate with the world, especially with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), will be shaped by the funding allocations and spending rules decided upon in the next months. However, there are questions about how research, innovation and higher education fits into this global outlook: will these aspects of cooperation with LMICs remain peripheral, or can they be recognised as a strategic enabler of European competitiveness and better implemented to address shared global challenges?

En Ukraine, les critiques continuent de fuser sur fond d'accusations auxquelles fait face l’ex-chef de la compagnie publique d’énergie. Brièvement placé en détention, Volodymyr Koudrytsky a été libéré sous caution. Il est soupçonné de détournement, ce qu’il rejette catégoriquement, y voyant des motivations politiques. Ses soutiens dénoncent une tentative des autorités ukrainiennes de faire taire les critiques. Une accusation qui revient régulièrement.

En Côte d’Ivoire, le PPA-CI, le parti de Laurent Gbagbo, a condamné l’arrestation, mardi 4 novembre, de Damana Adia Pickass, un haut responsable considéré comme un bras droit de l’ancien président ivoirien. Ce dernier occupe le poste de second vice-président du Conseil stratégique et politique du PPA-CI. Il est aussi le coordonnateur général du Front Commun, qui réunit le PPA-CI et le PDCI. Suite à l’invalidation de leurs candidats pour la présidentielle, cette plateforme appelait à des marches quotidiennes alors que les autorités ont interdit les rassemblements pour éviter des « risques de troubles à l’ordre public ».

Johan Borgstam, l’envoyé spécial de l’Union européenne pour les Grands Lacs, s’inquiète de la situation dans l’est de la RDC. Il termine une visite de plusieurs jours dans le pays, son septième déplacement dans la région depuis qu’il a été nommé à son poste en septembre 2024. 

En Hongrie, le Premier ministre souverainiste Viktor Orban renforce son emprise sur la presse à cinq mois des législatives. Après avoir pris le contrôle de l’audiovisuel public et de quelque 500 médias privés, Viktor Orban vient d’acheter, par l’intermédiaire d’un de ses fidèles, le plus grand quotidien hongrois. Il s’agit de Blikk, qui appartenait au groupe suisse Ringier. Un journal très populaire en Hongrie – l’édition papier est vendue à plusieurs dizaines de milliers d’exemplaires chaque jour – pour ses faits divers et pour ses reportages sur la corruption du clan au pouvoir. 

C’était en mars 2023, le gouvernement albanais déclarait en grande pompe le premier Parc national de rivière sauvage en Europe. Une victoire pour les écologistes qui luttaient depuis plus de 10 ans pour protéger la Vjosa, un fleuve sauvage à l’écosystème et à la biodiversité exceptionnel. Mais, deux ans et demi après : exploitation de pétrole et de bitume, détournement de l’eau, déchets liés au tourisme. Ce parc national est menacé et le principal affluent de la Vjosa est presque à sec. Reportage de notre correspondant au cœur de la vallée de la Vjosa.

Zu den Erfolgen der Demokraten bei US-Wahlen

Après les propos de son homologue, Donald Trump, qui a ordonné le 30 octobre dernier au Pentagone de « commencer à tester » les armes nucléaires américaines, Vladimir Poutine a affirmé ce mercredi 5 novembre envisager une reprise des essais nucléaires, si et seulement si les États-Unis les entamaient. 

Wahlen in verschiedenen Bundesstaaten an einem Tag - und alle erfolgreich für die Demokraten: Der USA-Experte Johannes Thimm sieht darin ein Zeichen der Unzufriedenheit mit Präsident Trump. Doch die Demokraten müssten eine Entscheidung treffen.

The cybersecurity of governments, companies, and individuals in Europe is heavily dependent on the United States. Specifically, US companies dominate the global mar­kets for cybersecurity applications and information on cyber threats. The US military also plays a role in data-gathering. In addition, Washington provides financial sup­port for vulnerability databases and the open source ecosystem. Taken together, these seemingly isolated technical issues mean that Europe’s ability to act in the field of cybersecurity is limited. This would even remain the case if Europe built its own “EuroStack.” These dependencies can become a problem for Europe in various situa­tions – if the US government ends its financial support for cybersecurity, if it changes its political priorities, or if it openly weaponizes these dependencies in a conflict with Europe. German and European decision-makers should act now to reduce these dependencies and protect Europe’s cybersecurity in the long term.

Die Cybersicherheit von Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft in Europa ist stark abhängig von den Vereinigten Staaten. Konkret dominieren US-amerikanische Unter­nehmen den weltweiten Markt für Cybersicherheits-Anwendungen ebenso wie für Informationen über entsprechende Bedrohungen. Bei der Gewinnung von Letzteren spielt auch das Militär des Landes eine Rolle. Außerdem leistet die Regierung in Washington finanzielle Unterstützung für Schwachstellen-Datenbanken und das Open-Source-Ökosystem. Was zunächst nach technischen Einzelaspekten klingt, be­deutet in der Summe, dass Europas Handlungsfähigkeit in diesem Bereich begrenzt ist und es auch mit einem eigenen »EuroStack« noch bliebe. Diese Abhängigkeiten können in verschiedenen Situationen zum Problem werden – wenn die US-Regierung ihre finanzielle Unterstützung für Cybersicherheit beendet, wenn sie ihre politischen Prioritäten ändert oder in einem Konflikt mit Europa die Depen­denz offen als Waffe einsetzt. Deutsche und europäische Entscheidungsträger:innen sollten jetzt gezielt Maßnahmen ergreifen, um die Abhängigkeiten zu reduzieren und so die Cybersicherheit in Europa langfristig zu schützen.

Après plusieurs mois de travaux, la filière de la noix s’est dotée d’une association nationale en mars dernier, rassemblant les deux principales appellations du Sud-Est et Sud-Ouest de l’Hexagone. Objectif : se faire entendre auprès du ministère de l'Agriculture, en particulier à l’égard des accords commerciaux où la filière se sent aujourd’hui « sacrifiée ».

Après plusieurs mois de travaux, la filière de la noix s’est dotée d’une association nationale en mars dernier, rassemblant les deux principales appellations du Sud-Est et Sud-Ouest de l’Hexagone. Objectif : se faire entendre auprès du ministère de l'Agriculture, en particulier à l’égard des accords commerciaux où la filière se sent aujourd’hui « sacrifiée ».