As Maduro appears in New York court, Venezuela’s state apparatus 'remains in place'

François Picard is pleased to welcome Christopher Sabatini, Senior Research Fellow for Latin America, the US and the Americas program at Chatham House. According to Sabatini, the removal of a head of state through external force may appear, at first glance, as a decisive rupture.

Key takeaways

Quick scan — what you need to know:

• François Picard is pleased to welcome Christopher Sabatini, Senior Research Fellow for Latin America, the US and the Americas program at Chatham House.
• According to Sabatini, the removal of a head of state through external force may appear, at first glance, as a decisive rupture.
• Yet what unfolds beneath the surface reveals continuity rather than transformation.
• The structures of power, the networks of coercion, and the embedded systems of corruption do not dissolve with the extraction of a single leader.

Background

What led here, in plain terms:

• François Picard is pleased to welcome Christopher Sabatini, Senior Research Fellow for Latin America, the US and the Americas program at Chatham House.
• According to Sabatini, the removal of a head of state through external force may appear, at first glance, as a decisive rupture.
• Yet what unfolds beneath the surface reveals continuity rather than transformation.
• The structures of power, the networks of coercion, and the embedded systems of corruption do not dissolve with the extraction of a single leader.

Why it matters

Why readers and decision-makers should care:

• François Picard is pleased to welcome Christopher Sabatini, Senior Research Fellow for Latin America, the US and the Americas program at Chatham House.
• According to Sabatini, the removal of a head of state through external force may appear, at first glance, as a decisive rupture.
• Yet what unfolds beneath the surface reveals continuity rather than transformation.