Venezuela’s Descent Into Dictatorship Is a Regional Failure, Too

The result of yesterday’s statesmanlike predetermination successful Venezuela remains up successful nan air. In statement pinch pre-election polling, guidance campaigner Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia turned retired much voters than President Nicolas Maduro by a ample margin. However, hours aft polls closed, Venezuela’s electoral assembly declared Maduro nan victor pinch 51 percent of nan vote, a blatant effort to bargain nan predetermination that nan guidance will beryllium capable to disprove pinch nan printed results of nan integer voting machines from each precinct, which they person successful hand.

In nan week anterior to nan election, nan temper successful Venezuela was a mix of hopeful optimism that alteration was imaginable and fearfulness of nan much realistic probabilities of fraud and repression. While nan temper this greeting is leaning toward nan latter, it will apt return astatine slightest a fewer much days to definitively cognize which guidance things will return moving forward.

Sadly, moreover if nan result of nan predetermination is simply a transportation of powerfulness travel January, erstwhile nan victor will beryllium inaugurated, that modulation would travel astir a decade excessively late. Maduro’s presidency, which he inherited erstwhile erstwhile President Hugo Chavez died successful 2013, has been an absolute calamity for Venezuela. But nan country’s horrific descent since he took agency has besides exposed an tremendous shortfall successful position of nan hemisphere’s expertise to extremity wide quality authorities abuses and humanitarian disasters.