Venezuela: The Collapse of Chavismo? – Sputnik International

The South American country has been wracked bysporadic violence overthe pastcouple ofyears ever sincethe death offormer President Hugo Chavez, which emboldened the pro-Western opposition toseek the overthrow ofhis increasingly unpopular successor, Nicolas Maduro. Venezuelas incumbent leader has been blamed forthe systemic economic failings that have occurred duringhis tenure, though tobe fair, not everything thats unfolded is his fault. Chavez financed his populist agenda ofsocio-economic reform and generous state subsidies throughheavy government spending, which suddenly became unmanageable in2014 withthe beginning ofthe oil price slump and was further exacerbated bythe US economic warfare.

Nowadays, what had once been the most promising country inall ofLatin America is sadly the sick man ofthe hemisphere, withchronic shortages ofbasic goods reportedly commonplace inmany ofVenezuelas largest cities and crime skyrocketing beyondits already-high "ordinary levels. This dire state ofaffairs has only served toencourage more and more people tocome outinto the streets inopposition tothe government, including previous supporters ofthe countrys Chavismo brand ofsocialism. The opposition rode a wave ofanti-government discontent inDecember 2015 and now controls almost two-thirds ofthe parliament, though theyve still struggled toimplement their soft regime change agenda due tostrident resistance fromthe ruling party and its zealous supporters. The friction betweenthese two camps occasionally spills overinto street violence, the latest ofwhich was triggered bythe Supreme Court temporarily taking control ofsome legislative processes earlier this year.

Despite the judiciary backtracking onits controversial actions, the anti-government unrest has only grown inthe weeks since, and some ofthe protesters are now hurling bottles offeces atthe police and even shooting atthem withsniper rifles. What may have begun asa series ofunderstandable demonstrations againstworsening socio-economic conditions, brought aboutby systemic mismanagement and American interference has inarguably turned intoa Color Revolution which is horrifyingly transforming intoan Unconventional War ofurban terrorism that threatens toturn Caracas intoKiev and lead tothe total collapse ofChavismo.

For this segment Andrew is joined by George Conyne, Professor ofHistory atthe University ofKent and Nino Pagliccia, Venezuelan author of "Cuba Solidarity inCanada Five Decades ofPeople-to-People Foreign Relations" and a retired researcher fromthe University ofBritish Columbia.

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Venezuela: The Collapse of Chavismo? - Sputnik International