Former bus driver-turned-President Nicolas Maduro has now succeeded in driving Venezuela to the terminal of failed states by his actions these past week. Last Sunday, Maduro claimed victory in an election for a constituent assembly — a vote that had been boycotted by opposition parties because the new body has but one aim — to rewrite the Venezuelan Constitution to give Maduro totalitarian powers. He joins the dubious democracy club alongside Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Bashar Al Assad of Syria for their ability to turn the ballot box into a printing press to manufacture votes of only one type.
After last Sunday’s election resulted in widespread condemnation by the international community, with more than 40 nations expressing concern of the manner and legitimacy of the vote, Maduro has now come up with an excuse that would bring a smile to the face of Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader: The Yankees hacked the results to illegitimise the result. Certainly, former president Hugo Chavez’s hand-picked successor earns full marks for his use of alternative facts. The reality though is that Venezuela now stands on the crumbling edge of a precipice, where civil disorder is bound to continue. Since April, when street protests against Maduro and his socialist party’s rule began in earnest, hundreds have died with thousands more imprisoned.
Currently, inflation across the beleaguered nation is running at 1,000 per cent and stores are empty of almost all consumer and basic goods. The collapse of what used to be South America’s strongest economy is near complete. And while Maduro can point to the two-year lows for oil hovering around the $50 (Dh183.9) per barrel mark, the reality is that he has done little if anything to reign in the populist and socialist programmes initiated by Chavez during his revolutionary rule.
United States President Donald Trump has been loud in his condemnation of last Sunday’s constituent assembly election — criticism that Maduro has used to galvanise his supporters and allow them to vent their anger at American collusion.
Importantly, though, the South American nations of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Columbia have all condemned the election and the downward spiral of events under Maduro. These nations have been joined by Mexico, Canada and the European Union in similar condemnation. For Columbia, the deepening crisis in Venezuela will have stern consequences, as it is bracing for an influx of economic and political refugees from its troubled neighbour. If a solution is to be found, and quickly, then it is with these nations that the answer lies.
