THIS time, the protests were nationwide. From Maracaibo in the west to Ciudad Guayana in the east, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans filled the streets to call for an end to the authoritarian left-wing regime led by Nicolás Maduro. More than 100 people were arrested and one policeman in the state of Miranda died. “This government is never going to leave through an election,” said María Gil, a masseuse who joined the throng in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. “All that is left is protest.” David Mujica, a street trader, agreed that voting “changes nothing”.
Both protesters branded Mr Maduro a “dictator”, a term Venezuelans have been using more freely after the events of the past fortnight. On October 21st, days before voters were to go to polling stations to register their signatures in favour of holding a referendum to recall the president from office, the process came to an abrupt halt. Five criminal courts in five separate states declared that the conduct of an earlier stage in the process—the submission of signatures from at least 1% of the electorate—had been fraudulent. That is nonsense. The opposition submitted 2m...Continue reading
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