Professional Affiliation

Caracas-Based Analyst

Expert Bio

As Andes Project Senior Analyst, Phil researches and produces Crisis Group policy materials and conducts advocacy on political issues in the Andes region, focusing primarily on the Venezuelan political situation.

He has spent almost 40 years reporting on Latin America for a wide variety of news media, including the BBC World Service, The Guardian, Newsweek, The Miami Herald and The Economist. In the 1980s he covered the wars in Central America, and in the late 1990s he was Latin America correspondent for The Guardian, based in Mexico City. He has co­authored two books on the region, including a two­-volume political dictionary of Latin America and the Caribbean.