Editorial/Opinion

The Guardian view on Venezuela: a country in pain

Reuters/Jorge Silva

A Venezuelan student attend a rally for peace. People are dying from shortages and state violence as Nicolás Maduro clings to power

Venezuela's president Nicolás Maduro has failed his country . Picked by Hugo Chávez as successor just before his death in 2013, President Maduro has been an incompetent leader in hard times. He has failed to address the economic crisis triggered when the fall in the price of oil exposed the weaknesses of Chavismo, his predecessor's ambitious experiment in poverty alleviation and social ownership. Now, in what was once South America's richest country, more than four households in five are in poverty, twice the level of when he came to power. Babies and children die for lack of access to commonplace medicines. Murder and kidnapping for ransom are rife. Inflation is running above 800%; the economy is contracting sharply. Democracy itself is being eroded as the president defends his faltering grip on power. Weeks of protests have been met by state violence, semi-official vigilantes and, increasingly, counterattack from some opposition groupings. There is a wretched stalemate; and there is a real fear that violence could soon escalate out of control.

Like many of its neighbours, Venezuela's democrats have to overcome a troubled history of rule by elites with little concern for lifting people out of poverty or shared economic growth. For more than a decade, Chávez seemed to offer a better prospectus: decent housing, proper wages and a fairer future. But after his premature death, the fall in oil prices laid bare the old divisions. His detractors point to a mixture of corruption and his failure to set up a Norwegian-style wealth fund to invest some of an oil income that approached $1tn as causes of the crisis. His defenders accuse the old ruling elite and its supporters of sabotaging the revolution.

But in the past few days, there is a sense that a bridge has been crossed. For the first time, demonstrators have included people from the poorer parts of Caracas, the people who were at the heart of the Chavismo project. Mr Maduro is talking about resuming talks with the opposition, brokered by the Vatican. But there is deep cynicism about these overtures. The opposition suspect him of playing for time, and remember bitterly that the last time they placed their trust in the Vatican's involvement the talks soon foundered on the president's obduracy.

Venezuela is in great danger. This stand-off can only be resolved if both sides make some big and difficult decisions. The opposition must accept that protests on their own will not force the Maduro government from office, and that increasing violence on their side risks appearing to justify the use of force by the government. Instead, it must, in the words of one close observer , find a better way of increasing its leverage. That means uniting around concrete objectives such as a timetable for local and governorial elections. It means uniting behind a single leader, a putative presidential candidate that all factions trust – a tall order when one pre-eminent leader, Leopoldo López , is in prison and another, Henrique Capriles, has been banned . They must acknowledge that Chavismo still has a real hold on the hearts of many Venezuelans and any future settlement must make space for it; it cannot be the kind of exercise in revenge that has been seen too often in other South American countries.

Conspicuous respect for constitutionality for the opposition. On the other side, a genuine commitment to negotiation. Bringing the president and his allies to talk may take personal sanctions. Those would have to be imposed by a multilateral group of nations. Any direct action by the US alone plays straight into the Maduro narrative of American intervention. The international community could make the presidential elections due at the end of next year the target for settlement, and international pariah status the penalty for failing to reach it. These are immensely challenging ambitions; there are not even obvious trusted mediators. But the alternative is a dysfunctional country that brings nothing but insecurity and suffering to its citizens. And that never ends well.

 

The Guardian is a British daily newspaper founded in 1821. Petroleumworld does not necessarily share these views.

Editor's Note: This commentary was originally published by The Guardian on April 25, 2017. Petroleumworld reprint this article in the interest of our readers. Link to original article.

Petroleumworld reprint this article in the interest of our readers and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners. All comments posted and published on Petroleumworld, do not reflect either for or against the opinion expressed in the comment as an endorsement of Petroleumworld.

All comments expressed are private comments and do not necessary reflect the view of this website. All comments are posted and published without liability to Petroleumworld.

Use Notice:This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues of environmental and humanitarian significance. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

All works published by Petroleumworld are in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.Petroleumworld has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Petroleumworld endorsed or sponsored by theoriginator.Petroleumworld encourages persons to reproduce, reprint, or broadcast Petroleumworld articles provided that any such reproduction identify the original source, http://www.petroleumworld.com or else and it is done within the fair use as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Internet web links to http://www.petroleumworld.com are appreciated.

Copyright© 1999-2017 Petroleumworld or respective author or news agency. All rights reserved.

We welcome the use of Petroleumworld™ stories by anyone provided it mentions Petroleumworld.com as the source.

Other stories you have to get authorization by its authors.Internet web links to http://www.petroleumworld.com are appreciated.

Petroleumworld welcomes your feedback and comments, share your thoughts on this article, your feedback is important to us!

Petroleumworld News 05/ 01/2017

 

We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.

Follow us in : twitter / Facebook

Send this story to a friend

Write to editor@petroleumworld.com

By using this link, you agree to allow PW
to publish your comments on our letters page.

Any question or suggestions,
please write to: editor@petroleumworld.com

Best Viewed with IE 5.01+ Windows NT 4.0, '95,
'98,ME,XP, Vista, Windows 7,8 +/ 800x600 pixels