News / A Simple Question

What is really going on in Venezuela?

Sunday, 28 May 2017 10:11 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 28 May 2017 10:12 AM ]

Riot police clash with anti-government protesters blocking the Francisco Fajardo highway during a demonstration against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on May 27, 2017. (AFP)

Venezuela’s deep economic and social crisis shows no signs of abating, and will likely get worse amidst the chaos and violence wracking the country.

The opposition has shown its willingness to sacrifice possibilities for economic recovery to achieve its goal of removing President Nicolas Maduro from office, with reports that the National Assembly head Julio Borges recently contacted over a dozen leading international banks, urging them not to do business with Venezuela.

The government, in turn, faces increasing criticism for its seemingly complete inability to solve, or even admit the full severity of, the nation’s socioeconomic crisis, and what many have criticized as a slide into authoritarianism.

The opposition has engaged in numerous acts of violence during the current round of protests. In an on-the-ground April 23 report from Venezuela, Rachel Boothroyd Rojas, of Venezuelanalysis.com, wrote: “A catalogue of the violence over the last eighteen days is shocking — schools have been ransacked, a Supreme Court building has been torched, an air force base attacked, while public transport, health, and veterinary facilities have been destroyed. At least twenty-three people have been left dead, with many more injured.

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