Is Venezuela Lost? Chavistas Shed 'Democratatorship' For Dictatorship

Last December – when Venezuela’s opposition demolished the ruling socialists in parliamentary elections – a lot of folks got ready for an Andean Spring.It seemed to make sense. Chavismo, the socialist party of the late President Hugo Chávez, had singlehandedly destroyed Venezuela’s oil-rich economy. It had forced Venezuelans to endure epic lines for increasingly scarce food, medicine and other basics. It had left them to suffer South America’s worst murder and violent crime epidemics. A recall referendum looked imminent – meaning so did the ouster of Chávez’s laughable successor, President Nicolás Maduro. After that, the opposition was sure a new presidential election would end Chavismo’s disastrous 17-year-long rule. More…