Dozens have died in protests that have shaken Venezuela’s government. Why are Venezuelans angry?
What are the protests about?
A broken economy, crime, shortages of basic goods, and political repression. When the populist President Hugo Chávez died last year, he left Venezuela’s economy and civil society in shambles. Chávez’s handpicked successor, President Nicolás Maduro, has none of Chávez’s charisma, but essentially the same socialist policies and autocratic governing style, and the country has quickly deteriorated. Its murder rate of 25,000 per year is among the world’s highest, with a Venezuelan killed every 20 minutes. Crime is so bad that the government stopped tracking it, claiming the data was being “politicized.” Kidnappings and robberies are rampant, and the police have been corrupted by criminal gangs. Venezuela exports oil and imports nearly everything else, so when global oil prices stalled this year, it triggered a runaway annual inflation rate of 57 percent, as the bolivar currency lost much of its value. Families have been unable to buy toilet paper, flour, cooking oil, and other staples. “We are in a critical situation,” says Caracas pollster Luis Vicente León, who warns that much of the country is near open revolt.
Who is leading the protests?
Protests started among students but quickly morphed into a general anti-government movement. Political opponents of Maduro, including opposition leader Leopoldo López, called for major demonstrations on Feb. 12, the bicentennial of the Battle of La Victoria, a pivotal moment in Venezuela’s war of independence when students and youth joined the fight. Those marches were largely peaceful except in Caracas, where three people were killed. Maduro blamed López for the violence and ordered his arrest, and that touched off a wave of further demonstrations in cities across the country. The more harshly police cracked down on protests, the angrier people got. “The Venezuelan government has openly embraced the classic tactics of an authoritarian regime, jailing its opponents, muzzling the media, and intimidating civil society,” says José Miguel Vivanco of Human Rights Watch.
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