@Shane Kinsella: My point which is also that of the Economist is that women have to go to Columbia to work in the Sex trade to support their families because of the failed policies of Maduro and his predecessor. I was not arguing about whether prostitution is legal in Venezuela. Please read the link to the article.

@BrianMcB: they should come here :-)

@BrianMcB: I’ve seen some of these socialists blame the US for what’s happening.its the typical rhetoric from socialists.
Come up with crazy ideas.when the don’t work.
Blame the US/big pharma/the 1%/capitalism etc etc etc

@BrianMcB:
Yes of course, and don’t you know that the US is also responsible for the socialist poster-boy Maduro and his henchmen accumulating personal assets in overseas bank accounts….

@Oisín Ó Dubhláin: At what point is a President not a President?

I’d say about the time where he intentionally ignores the declared will of his people.

Maduro has passed this point already and shows no signs of turning back. The ‘look over there’ apologia does no one any good. I love this idea that protesters should be angelic and peaceful 24/7 when their democracy is being wilfully subverted by a quasi-despot. I wouldn’t be very happy, would you?

@Oisín Ó Dubhláin: The wealthiest woman in Venezuela is Hugo Chavez daughter! I suppose you will also blame the US for this!!

@Andrew Eager: The US are not the primary cause of Venezuela’s economic problems, they do however want to exploit it for their own nefarious ends.

@Monty Wuggy:
Please elucidate.

@Monty Wuggy:

“Maduro is still more popular than the heads of state in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.”

There’s a poll cited in this article that claims Maduro is opposed by ~80% of Venezuelans.. Regardless of the popularity of surrounding governments/regimes, he is a very unpopular man.

(http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-idUSKBN13D02N)

As for the opposition cozying up with the US – I think the opposition feel they’ll cozy up to anyone if they get to wrestle back control of their democratic and judicial institutions. You could argue this is naive, but I can certainly see where they’re coming from. How frustrated would you be as a democratically elected representative that has been neutered by a massively unpopular, unconstitutional self-coup?

Regarding acts of violence, that debate really is pointless. Both sides have committed atrocities against innocents, this is the destabilisation that you get when a head of state gets uncomfortably unpopular and denies the opposition any headway through peaceful/democratic means.

On US interests I agree – I think the Kissinger ‘intervention’ in Chile involved probably the most disgusting act of state murder ever committed by the CIA and you could easily be skeptical of the same country interfering this time around.

The issue is that Maduro can use this suspicion to try and shut down legitimate opposition as being supported by the ‘imperialists’ (which he has done) and it gets the country absolutely nowhere. What is needed is a recall referendum, which the opposition respectfully tried for last year, and were shut down. That was unconscionable, dictatorial behaviour from Maduro’s government.

@Malachi: I don’t dispute that Maduro is unpopular nor that it’s warranted, my point was that his lack of popularity isn’t unique compared with neighbouring countries.

Your point is premised on the notion that the opposition is interested in Democracy. All of their actions to date has given me the impression they’re hostile towards it, and want a return to ultra capitalism which was what motivated so many Venezuelans to vote for Chavez in the first place. You can understand why so many Venezuelans who have become disillusioned with the elected government would turn to the opposition but that doesn’t mean they offer much solution to Venezuela’s systemic problems which predate Chavism.

You argue the destabilisation has come from the government, I could equally argue it’s come from the opposition and their willingness to resort to violence. Just yesterday there was a bomb detonated as the Venezuelan police drove by. Are these the actions of a peaceful opposition?

It’s not just Chile, look at what was done in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The US at times has supported right-wing forces that engaged in genocide, war crimes and assassinations. Yes, this was several decades ago but can you understand why some people would be suspicion of US motives in Venezuela?

To be clear, I’m not fan of Maduro and I think the direction he’s bringing the country is troubling, but I also think the coverage of the Venezuelan crisis has been massively distorted by the international press.

To illustrate my point perfectly, your understanding of why the recall referendum was shut down is skewed by the misleading reporting. It was primarily the actions of the MUD that led to it being shut down. If they hadn’t behaved so unreasonably there’s a strong chance the CNE would have went ahead with the referendum.

Here’s a good analysis of what went wrong:

https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/12875

@Monty Wuggy: Is that you Wally? I was worried about you!

@Seamus Mc Meel: Maduro should just print more money, simples

@Monty Wuggy: Not sure why his unpopularity has to be unique in the region for it to be relevant – he does not have the support of the Venezuelan people and thus it is absolutely in his best interests that a recall referendum or any attempt to put his power to the vote should be avoided.

“All of their actions to date has given me the impression [the MUD are] hostile towards [democracy], and want a return to ultra capitalism”

With respect, the people voted them into a supermajority, I trust the Venezuelan people as much as any people to make a decision on their own self-governance. If they see the opposition as better than Maduro, then they should be listened to, regardless of what you think the opposition party may do wrong.

I’m sure you’re aware that any opposition movement will contain legitimate supporters of democracy, and that a movement as large as the Venezuelan opposition will also contain very unsavoury characters. I am not contending that these people do not exist; I was reading recently that a certain vocal opponent of the Maduro government is a high ranking officer of the police agency, and that he has very nasty fascist leanings. Trust me when I say I have no wish to see such people hijack the opposition movement. I already acknowledged the point about US suspicions – it doesn’t justify the inverse McCarthyism Maduro is coming out with.

“[...] Are these the actions of a peaceful opposition?”

No. But it’s a lot to ask from everyone to stay completely peaceful when you crack down on their two main ways of voicing their displeasure with the current state of affairs – democratic voting and peaceful protests. Maduro is clearly stifling both. I don’t think violent incidents delegitimise an opposition that seems to have nowhere else to turn for the foreseeable future.

Your characterisation of why the recall referendum didn’t go ahead is definitely a one-sided view. There have been widespread criticisms of the actions of the Maduro-controlled TSJ in stifling the campaign, even the article you link to admits that. What’s very clear is that the separation of powers in the country has caved in.

@Monty Wuggy:
Do you have any evidence that the international press is distorting the Venezuela crisis, or is that just a personal gut feeling? Presumably you haven’t visited Venezuela yourself since this crisis began?

@Malachi: Many leaders who have been democratically elected don’t have the support of their people. It doesn’t mean they should be forcibly removed from power. Maduro certainly has more of a case to be leader of Venezuela than Michel Temer does for Brazil yet despite his unpopularity the US media rarely focus on it, because he has their support.

I’m sure many members of the opposition to see themselves as proponents of democracy, and maybe they genuinely are but that doesn’t negate the fact many of the actions of the opposition have been as concerning as the government. I just don’t subscribe to the view that Venezuela’s woes can be resolved be simply removing Maduro’s government and seeing a return to the ultra-capitalistic system that led to the support for Chavism.

You understand that the actions of the government may radicalise some of the opposition. Can you also extend that line of reasoning to Chavistas? Can you see why the actions of previous capitalistic governments led to the support for Chavism. Can you see why the actions of the opposition may radicalise Chavistas? Does your logic also extend to the US where many people have been killed by the police? Do you understand why injustice would lead them to thinking the only solution is violence?

There were various factors why the recall referendum didn’t go ahead, I never disputed that. It’s just my understanding that the primary reasons were related to the irresponsible actions of the MUD. Your explanation that it was simply down to Maduro’s dictatorial behaviour just seemed facile.

I don’t deny key institutions have been weakened in Venezuela, and Maduro’s government must bear the brunt of the blame for that. But the reasonable fear of a US-supported coup and the unilateral sanctions is only increasing paranoia and considering the history I can see why.

@Avina Laaf: No, but this writer has.

https://www.thenation.com/article/how-severe-is-venezuelas-crisis/

@Monty Wuggy: The journal is acting up and not letting me respond, I pasted the text elsewhere.

https://pastebin.com/HcmMzW9r

@Malachi: Sorry for the late reply, was busy last night.

Brazil saw its largest protest in decades a few months ago because of Temer’s policies. Brazil already has extreme levels of inequality and severe poverty, and Temer’s austerity policies will exacerbate that. Their unemployment rate is also the worst it’s been in years. Venezuela’s crisis is obviously different, but Brazil is a much larger country and if its issues aren’t addressed the consequences for the entire region would be enormous. The Americans turn a blind eye to Temer’s corruption because he plays ball with US investors.

The violence of the opposition isn’t anything new. It’s been happening for years and has gotten people killed. I think there’s a level of disturbances you could expect from protest, but killing people is wrong and I don’t think the opposition leaders have done enough to deter this kind of behaviour. I think you’re right, clearly the response of the government only compounds the situation but there can be no excuses for killing whether it’s government forces or from the opposition.

My point was that their desperation to get the recall referendum led to actions that undermined the democratic process. They surrounded CNE offices and intimidated their members. My argument was never that there weren’t questions that should be asked of the courts over the decision not to have a recall referendum but that your initial point that it was attributable to Maduro’s dictatorial was reductive, when in fact there were various factors including MUD’s actions that led to its demise.

@Monty Wuggy:
From your article:
“My investigation leaves little doubt that Venezuela is in the midst of a severe crisis, characterized by triple-digit inflation, scarcities of basic goods, widespread changes in food-consumption patterns, and mounting social and political discontent.”

That sounds pretty much identical to what the international press is reporting!

@Avina Laaf: Why are you quote mining?

You just left out the other part of that sentence.

“Yet mainstream media have consistently misrepresented and significantly exaggerated the severity of the crisis. It’s real and should by no means be minimized, but Venezuela is not in a state of cataclysmic collapse.”

And the author explains the basis for that opinion throughout the article, though I doubt you’ll read it.

@Monty Wuggy:
That’s an opinion piece. The author believes that ‘mainstream media’ is portraying Venezuela as being in a state of “cataclysmic collapse”. I don’t think that’s the case – international media has correctly portrayed Venezuela as being in a state of crisis and turmoil, but not of “cataclysmic collapse”.