Venezuela’s populist hardliner under scrutiny
Oil-rich country falls victim to leader s tyranny in riveting new documentary available to stream and download on Amazon Prime
There are many theories as to why populist hardline leaders have come to the fore.
Some postulate that the end of traditional capitalist systems has triggered a backlash from those opposed to change, which is why they turn to brash, uncompromising figures to lead them.
Others hypothesise that the influential powers of social media are swaying people to political leaders who are more charisma than substance, but because of the unchecked nature of these platforms, they are allowed to say and do anything to get votes.
Another theory is that desperate people will back any horse that promises a way out, though this is nothing new. Without the Great Depression there never would have been a Hitler, Nazis, World War 2 or the Holocaust.
Whatever the case, there appears to be an ever-increasing number of world leaders who fit the populist mould, and are only too happy to play the role the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, Belarus s Alexander
Lukashenko and Donald Trump. Venezuela s Nicolas Maduro is one of the world s biggest cautionary tales of what can happen when populism runs amok.
In the documentary Venezuela: The Curse of Oil, currently available to stream and download on Amazon Prime, viewers are given an insightful analysis of how the oil-rich country has fallen victim to corruption and the wiles of Maduro.
The story of his rise is fairly well known. A former bus driver, he rode the coat-tails of late president Hugo Chavez on the socialist ticket, and was hailed for being a paragon of the philosophy s ideals.
His grounding in the trade unions made him popular with workers and many believed him to be Chavez s natural successor.
But plummeting oil prices exposed Maduro s inability to keep the country together something his predecessor always — managed to do, even in the toughest times. What followed was textbook tyranny. Political opponents were arrested, media clampdowns became the norm and the military were deployed to beat protesters to a pulp or worse.
The result has been poverty on an unprecedented scale and the exodus of more than four million Venezuelans to neighbouring
Latin American countries or other parts of the world.
But the documentary takes Venezuela s collapse further by emphasising it has been worsened by geo-political power plays.
It is no surprise that the external forces come in the form of the US, Russia and China.
Vladimir Putin is notorious for pressuring the leaders of unstable nations to come round to his way of thinking. He dangles the carrot of aid, particularly military aid, so as to put Russia in a position to strike against the US.
The US, in turn, uses sanctions to exert power and bring about regime change in nations where there are resources for the taking, in the case of Venezuela, the country s oil reserves.
China, the 21st century s imperialist, has recognised Venezuela as hot property because of the tug-of-war it creates between the other two superpowers.
Maduro, being a gangster president, understands his value in the dynamic, which is why he is so determined not to relinquish his hold on the country.
As with Zimbabwe s Emmerson Mnangagwa, Maduro draws his strength from the army. While the majority of Venezuelans do not have food and electricity, he ensures military personnel receive everything they need.
It is the very reason opposition leader Juan Guaido s attempt to remove Maduro from power in 2019 proved a failure. Ideologically soldiers might be with him, but they also know where their bread is buttered.
What is commendable about the documentary is that it doesn t beat about the bush and calls out all these players in straightforward terms. The European Union, often portrayed as being the voice of reason in global politics, comes across as toothless, no matter how well meaning.
While all this goes on, ordinary people suffer. There are people eating off the streets, there are children begging, all dirty,” a young mother who has fled the country tells the filmmakers.
I gave birth to my baby in a hospital with “no lights. I brought a torch from home. The doctors told me to bring it. They weren t going to treat me because the power was out.”
As with Zimbabwe s Emmerson Mnangagwa, Maduro draws his strength from the army. While the majority of Venezuelans do not have food and electricity, he ensures military personnel receive everything they need
Venezuela: The Curse of Oil directed by Alain Maikiand, is streaming on Amazon Prime and runs for 53 minutes