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Venezuela: Deeper into the Abyss

Revista de ciencia política (Santiago), 2018

Fissures between the ruling Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV) and its grassroots base widened amid disaffection with the dismal economic performance of President Nicolás Maduro's government and the trend of militarization in his administration. Economic crisis and chronic insecurity accelerated migration. Opposition strategies of violent protest resumed as the executive continued to bypass the opposition-controlled legislature. Long-term divisions within the Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD) alliance over strategies for removing the government prevented the opposition from capitalizing on social discontent. The rift between parties supporting electoral approaches and more radical perspectives pressing for the overthrow of the government were replicated among external actors, whose interventions aggravated rather than alleviated political tensions.

Venezuela's Political Crisis: Continuing Chaos

IDSA Issue Brief There seems to be no end in sight to the political and economic turmoil unfolding in Venezuela. While the willingness of the Maduro regime to silence the opposition is cause for concern, far more worrying, however, is the prospect of the new Constituent Assembly initiating a process of rewriting the Constitution to eliminate the last vestiges of democratic checks and balances. Maduro has already made clear his intention to render the National Assembly impotent and perhaps even dissolve it. The new Constituent Assembly may well take the first steps towards achieving this goal. Yet, the Venezuelan opposition, despite the odds ranged against it, has shown no sign of being willing to back down from confronting the government.

The crisis in Venezuela: Drivers, transitions, and pathways

European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe, 2020

In this introduction, we present the main contributions of this special collection, which aim to open the analysis to the broader political and economic processes that underpin Venezue-la's recent crisis. We highlight the transition from a limited democracy to an authoritarian regime and some of the potential pathways to democratization. We further explain how the political transition that occurred in the last decade was influenced by structural conditions of the Venezuelan economy, elaborating on the collapse of the Venezuelan rentier economy and some of the emerging processes that feed the strengthening of authoritarianism. Lastly, we analyse how these transformations have been affected by a changing international order with emerging actors and dynamics in a global order upheaval. The articles in this special collection locate in Venezuela's crisis on broader theoretical discussions rooted in comparative and historical perspectives. En esta introducción, presentamos las principales contribuciones de esta colección especial, cuyo objetivo es abrir un análisis a los amplios procesos políticos y económicos que susten-tan la reciente crisis de Venezuela. Destacamos la transición de una democracia limitada a un régimen autoritario y algunas de las posibles vías hacia la democratización. Explicamos además cómo la transición política que ocurrió en la última década estuvo influida por las condiciones estructurales de la economía venezolana, explicando el colapso de la economía rentista venezolana y algunos de los procesos emergentes que alimentan el fortalecimiento del autoritarismo. Por último, analizamos cómo estas transformaciones se han visto afecta-das por un orden internacional cambiante con actores y dinámicas emergentes en una agita-ción del orden global. Los artículos de esta colección especial sitúan la crisis de Venezuela en debates teóricos más amplios enraizados en perspectivas comparativas e históricas. Pala-bras clave: Venezuela, retroceso democrático, autoritarismo, economía rentista, orden global , Nicolás Maduro, Revolución Bolivariana.

Venezuela: The Decline of a Democracy

Development, 2018

The political crisis in Venezuela has been aggravating for the past five years, the economic imbalance has increased the chances of social disintegration while government focuses on holding to power. The institutional deterioration provides forms of control consistent with the authoritarian model in detriment of the values and principles of a democracy that was once a model for stability in Latin America. https://link.springer.com/epdf/10.1057/s41301-018-0157-6?author\_access\_token=p1V1xRQljhhj2XvPXDFigFxOt48VBPO10Uv7D6sAgHuqTbaJ7ZuZmo5DPlHHnX50CCrhS2\_tDMuulbeOcq53PIXHVyfeKMZDBf4EPevvEgYw-dRCIbQRFJc3C0fz8tuFz1kV52Rp8zrmZJHPxQsMig%3D%3D

Crisis in Venezuela, 2018

Manuel Sutherland, distinguished political economist and director of the Centro de Investigación y formación Obrera (CIFO), Caracas, recently gave a synoptic conference on what he describes as the "deepest and longest recession" in Venezuelan history. He featured as final guest speaker for the course "Modern Revolutions in Latin America", Workers' Educational Association, Sydney. Full course details at http://ppesydney.net/modern-revolutions-in-latin-america-ii/

VENEZUELA: A CROSSROADS WITHOUT A SOLUTION?

Internally and internationally, there has been a long and dense controversy over the real options for a definitive solution to the deep Venezuelan humanitarian crisis. Two sides, the 'pacifist' and supporter of an 'internal' solution and the 'interventionist' or external one, debate endlessly without taking into account the systematic violation of humanitarian law by the State, hunger, medical neglect and the forced exodus of large masses of the population. As in the recent cases of Syria or Yemen, the international community shows even greater indolence. This trend towards the petrification of the 'Venezuelan case' has not changed after the appointment of an interim president by the National Assembly, the last stronghold of democratic representation, nor has it happened after the international majority support it has received. Nevertheless, the Venezuelan constitution of 1999 imposes on the legitimate president to fully exercise as Head of State and President of the Government of his country, among other things to achieve the democratic and institutional restoration in Venezuela. With the exception of a massive desertion of military commanders and troops unrelated to State crimes attributable to the regime, it seems almost impossible for the legitimate president to fulfill such duties without agreeing on a sufficiently strong military alliance and guarantor of the required success.

The Crisis of the Bolivarian Democracy in Venezuela: a necessary revision

The Venezuelan Democracy is experiencing a complex crisis, in which the legitimacy of the political system and the economic model are at a cliff's edge, creating a situation with few solutions in sight. This two-dimensional crisis has consequences on multiples levels for political representation, participation of social movements, the exercise of the right of equality before the law and people's access to food and medicines. Consider the historical and political dimensions of the crisis.