Venezuela’s government clings on by splitting the opposition and strong-arming the poor

After months of violence and killings, all the blood, sweat and tears Venezuela’s opposition activists, protesters and voters gave to the anti-Chavista cause seem to have gone down the drain. So how is this spectacularly unpopular government, which so recently seemed on the edge of collapse, shoring itself up? In a nutshell, with a combination of corruption, electoral meddling, and outright coercion. One of its most powerful tools is the Carnet de la Patria (Homeland Card). This is an identity card ostensibly meant to improve the efficiency of government social programmes by linking everyone who requests and receives services and handouts to their government records. But, in reality, the card’s main function is to keep a tight grip on the state’s 2.8m employees and also the millions of people seeking government assistance, many of whose livelihoods depend on it. More…