Abraham F. Lowenthal, founding director of the Inter-American Dialogue and the Wilson Center’s Latin American Program, and professor emeritus at the University of Southern California: “The announcement by Venezuela’s democratic opposition parties that they will hold primaries in October to select a unity candidate to run against President Nicolás Maduro, or his designated representative, in the 2024 presidential election, is an important step toward a peaceful transition from authoritarian rule toward effective democratic governance. Contemplating who will emerge as a broadly supported figure is a natural focal point for speculation, but it is much less important now than negotiating the conditions necessary for reasonably fair and competitive elections. The most important questions to be addressed are whether the Maduro government and the democratic opposition can agree, encouraged by international incentives and pressures, to hold elections that are fair enough—by…”