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  • Venezuela was once the richest country in Latin America.

  • It has the largest known oil reserves in the world.

  • And its democratic government was once praised world wide.

  • But today, Venezuela's democratic institutions and its economy are in shambles.

  • The country has the highest inflation in the world, making food and medicine inaccessible

  • to most Venezuelans.

  • Over the last four years, its GDP has fallen 35%, which is a sharper drop than the one

  • seen during the Great Depression in the US.

  • The country's murder rate has surpassed that of the most dangerous cities in the world.

  • These conditions have sparked months of protests against the president, Nicolas Maduro.

  • And it's easy to see why: the country has become measurably worse since his election

  • in 2013.

  • A poll showed that about 80% of Venezuelans want Maduro removed from office.

  • But instead, the opposite has happened: Maduro has consolidated his power bringing the country

  • closer to authoritarian rule.

  • Maduro's political ambition became evident in December 2015.

  • Two years after he became president, a coalition of opposition parties called the Democratic

  • Unity Roundtable or MUD, won a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, putting

  • Maduro's rule at risk.

  • In response, Maduro quickly forced out several Supreme Court justices and filled the positions

  • with cronies loyal to him.

  • In March 2016, the court ruled to strip the opposition-led National Assembly of its powers

  • -- a move that sparked massive protests across the country.

  • The ruling was reversed a few days later, but the damage was done -- protests continued

  • to grow and have left about 100 dead and thousands injured so far.

  • Despite the violence and public outcry, Maduro held a vote in July to elect a new governing

  • body called the National Constituent Assembly, which would have the power to rewrite Venezuela's

  • constitution and essentially replace the National Assembly. And leave virtually non opposition to Maduro's rule.

  • With Maduro's recent vote, Venezuelans didn't have a say in whether the assembly should exist.

  • They only had the option to elect its members.

  • But when Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez proposed a constitutional rewrite in 1999,

  • he first called for a referendum to propose the election of the assembly.

  • After most Venezuelans voted yes, they elected a new National Constituent Assembly.

  • See, unlike Maduro, Chavez was a charismatic and beloved leader.

  • In the 90s, he burst onto television sets across the country.

  • He blamed government corruption and Venezuela's elite for the economic inequality.

  • His populist message resonated with the country's poor who eventually helped bring him to power.

  • The key moment in his presidency came in 2004 when oil prices surged.

  • Venezuela's petroleum- dependent economy started booming and Chavez went on to spend billions from the

  • profits on social-welfare programs for the poor.

  • He subsidized food, improved the educational system, built an enviable healthcare system

  • and reduced poverty by more than half.

  • These programs certainly helped the poor, but they served a purpose for Chavez as well.

  • In order to be re-elected, he needed to keep millions of poor Venezuelans happy.

  • So he rigged the economy to do just that...

  • He didn't scale back Venezuela's dependence on oil and his unrestrained spending led to

  • a growing deficit.

  • Which meant all these programs would be impossible to sustain if oil prices fell.

  • After Chavez's death, when Maduro took office as his handpicked successor, that's exactly

  • what happened: Oil prices plummeted in 2014 and Maduro failed

  • to adjust.

  • Hyperinflation has made medicines and food, that was once subsidized, unaffordable for

  • Venezuela's poor, who now make up about 82% of the population.

  • Like Chavez, Maduro has also rigged the economy to keep himself in power, but this time it's

  • not benefitting the poor. He's exploited a complex currency system,

  • put in place by Chavez.

  • Maduro's set the official exchange rate at 10 bolivars per US dollar.

  • But only his friends and allies have access to this rate.

  • In reality, the venezuelan currency has become basically worthless.

  • Most Venezuelans get their dollars on the black market, where the rate is about 12,000

  • bolivar per dollar.

  • The military, which got complete control of the food supply from Maduro in 2016, is reportedly

  • profiting off of this currency crisis.

  • They import food at Maduro's special currency rate and sell it on the black market for a

  • massive profit.

  • So for military generals and political allies of Maduro, the crisis has offered a lucrative opportunity

  • which has helped Maduro stay in power.

  • But he can't rely on that support alone...

  • ...which brings us back to Maduro's recent power grab.

  • The opposition boycotted the vote, but Maduro held the vote for the new constitutional assembly

  • anyway, and won a majority.

  • "Protests on the streets of Venezuela turned deadly after President Nicolas Maduro

  • declares victory."

  • "The violence on Sunday very real"

  • "The bomb went off near some motorcycle police wounding several."

  • "Election day clashes between protesters and police claiming at least 10 more lives....."

  • "At least one candidate has been murdered, shot to death."

  • Maduro's government is trying to create the illusion of public support.

  • The government claimed about 8 million people, or 40% of the country, voted.

  • But experts put that number much lower, at just 3 million people.

  • The international community including Peru, Canada, Spain, Mexico and Argentina condemned

  • the election.

  • The US imposed financial sanctions on Maduro and members of his government.

  • But Maduro's assembly, filled with loyalists, convened anyway and it swiftly removed attorney

  • general Luisa Ortega, leader of the opposition.

  • Armed groups reportedly arrested several other opposition leaders too.

  • Whether the group will rewrite the constitution or postpone the next presidential election

  • remains to be seen.

  • For now, Maduro has unprecedented power over a country that continues to spiral out of

  • control.

Venezuela was once the richest country in Latin America.

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ベネズエラの崩壊、解説 (The collapse of Venezuela, explained)

  • 91 7
    April Lu に公開 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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