Maduro follows the Zimbabwe model
Venezuela’s descent into chaos is making headlines, not least because no one knows what will come next. The only other country to go through such an economic meltdown in recent history is Zimbabwe.
Venezuela’s descent into chaos is making headlines, not least because no one knows what will come next. The only other country to go through such an economic meltdown in recent history is Zimbabwe.
On June 23, the Permanent Council of the OAS will meet to discuss Venezuela, a country in the throes of an economic, political and humanitarian crisis. It now appears that it’s only a matter of time before Venezuela implodes and becomes a failed state.
The international community is trying to encourage the Venezuelan government and the opposition to sit down to a dialogue. But democratic dialogue requires commitment to principles, and the government has never shown—nor is showing now—any willingness to commit to those values.
On May 30th, OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro invoked the Inter-American Democratic Charter in the case of Venezuela, political “red card”. The question now is, will the Permanent Council uphold the red card or denounce the ref?
Secretary General Luis Almagro has invoked the Democratic Charter of the OAS, calling for a meeting of the body’s Permanent Council to discuss the situation in Venezuela. How the hemispheric body responds will be a test of its role and future in a divided hemisphere.
With the Venezuelan economy in a free fall, massive shortages and President Nicolás Maduro renewing a state of emergency and calling for military exercises, the question of political upheaval and state collapse in Venezuela is no longer a matter of if, but when. And when it does happen, Venezuela’s neighbors will have themselves to blame for letting it get this far and this bad.
In a short obit for Prince, rather than mentioning his impact on funk and pop, TeleSur focuses on how he opposed the Iraq war. The implication: Prince may have been a Bolivarian! But wasn’t it the Raspberry Beret that gave it away all along?
The new majority in the National Assembly has failed in offering economic alternatives and in confronting Venezuela’s political crisis. Despite being a lousy opposition, though, they are still important.
While Cuba’s foreign minister of trade travels to the U.S. to enhance commercial relations, Venezuela’s economy falls deeper into a crisis that seems to have no end.
In 16 years Venezuela has fallen from being a model for the anti-globalization movement to an example for doomsday planners, video gamers and screenwriters of post-apocalyptic chaos.