Since the election of President Nicolás Maduro, by a wafer-thin margin in elections last April 15th, Venezuela has experienced one of the most serious outbreaks of opposition-led violence and instability in recent years.1 This led to the deaths of over 40 people, from government, opposition and non-aligned sectors, the arrest of prominent right-wing opposition leader, Leopoldo López, who led the push for the ousting of Maduro – termed “La Salida” (meaning both ‘Exit’ and ‘Solution') - and the charging of another prominent leader María Corina Machado, among others. More recent reports suggest that as a result of this and other government actions against such opposition activity, the United States is moving closer to imposing sanctions on the Caribbean oil producing nation.