Has Venezuela's Economic Crisis Reached A Breaking Point?

President Maduro has proved to be an inept but surprisingly (and scarily) stubborn leader. Rather than acknowledge growing opposition to his government he has tried to entrench his position. Maduro has called for a new constitution, brought protestors in for trials in military courts, and made wild accusations that he's facing down a coup. Over 40 people have been killed in clashes with riot police over the last few weeks. Meanwhile, Maduro has jailed one leading opposition leader and banned another from running. Maduro now lacks popular support but is trying to consolidate power by undermining Venezuela's democracy and establishing autocratic control. For now Maduro still enjoys the backing of key military leaders and a swath of the country's poor. As the economy continues to collapse, however, Maduro may find himself with fewer and fewer friends. To get a sense of what may unfold over the next few months in Venezuela I reached out to Nicholas Watson, a senior Latin America analyst at Teneo Intelligence, a boutique political risk consultancy. More…