Economic security

Who Will Stop Venezuela’s Slow Self-Coup?

Dire food and medicine shortages, the collapse of the health care, sanitation and transportation infrastructure, and hyperinflation have all led to speculation that the Venezuelan government, headed by Nicolás Maduro, will soon fall. But the Cuban-backed regime is entering a new phase of self-preservation. Havana has no intention of losing its hold over its most valuable satellite.

The Venezuelan government’s most urgent task is to fend off demands for a presidential-recall referendum this year—though the right to hold it is guaranteed by the constitution. If President Maduro were to lose that vote, there would have to be an election within 30 days. The next Cuban-proxy candidate put forth for the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) would almost certainly lose.