Opposition struggles to thrive
As violence continues, two high profile leaders, supporters divided
CARACAS, Venezuela — It is hard to find toilet paper or flour in oilrich Venezuela and the country is plagued by some of the highest inflation, murder and kidnapping rates in the world. Clashes between protesters and security forces loyal to the president have left 16 dead, and a telegenic opposition leader has been thrown in jail.
But don’t expect a Ukraine-style street revolution anytime soon in this South American nation, where the frequently outmanoeuvred opposition hasn’t united behind a single strategy or managed to broaden on its side all along.
The man they are up against, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, has a near-complete grip on the military, broadcast media and institutions from congress to the judiciary after 15 years of socialist rule.
That could change if the protests continue and unrest gets further out of hand. But for many Venezuelans, the opposition’s two highest profile leaders, former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles and the jailed Leopoldo Lopez, are still viewed as part of an elite.
For years the opposition has insisted the government is illegitimate rather than succeeding in building bridges across class lines, reinforcing perceptions that it hasn’t evolved since it backed a failed 2002 coup against then president Hugo Chavez.
Maduro’s party handily won municipal elections in December that were seen as a referendum on his first year in office. An economic decline has accelerated since then, but he continues to funnel government resources into poor neighbourhoods.
To be sure, there are some signs that unrest is spreading to at least a few working-class neighbourhoods around the country, even if most have remained calm despite the protests in tonier districts.