Venezuela has faced many problems in the past months, including, sanctions on its oil, hyperinflation, and major political unrest. This political unrest is due to the intranational and international approval and disapproval over Juan Guaido’s attempt to topple Nicolas Maduro’s presidency by garnering military support. The United States and over 50 countries support Guaido as the leader of Venezuela whereas Maduro still has support as leader from Russia, Cuba, Turkey, and China.
Caught in the crossfire of this controversy, that has been thrust onto the international stage, is Edgar Zambrano: Guaido’s 64 year old lawyer deputy who was put in a forceful detention that Zambrano said was a kidnapping. Zambrano was caught on video with Guaido at the military’s air force base in Caracas when Guaido attempted to usurp power. Eight days after the failed uprising, Venezuela’s secret service intercepted Zambrano as he was leaving his party’s headquarters and was involuntarily dragged to prison.
Headlines still dealing with the specific issue of Guaido’s attempted uprising and its impact seem surprising on the surface given the fact that the attempted coup happened over three months ago. The fact that Zambrano was detained for months shows the level at which authoritarian regimes will go to maintain power. However, more attention grabbing part of the story for me is that Zambrano was released and with the stated reason being “peaceful coexistence.” Though I applaud this move as it looks to be a step in the right direction as far as the tensions in the country go, it all just amounts to the posturing of the state to keep influential democratic countries like the United States off their case.
It is stories like these that make it clear why Venezuela was ranked 134 in the world in the 2018 Economist democracy index. Just looking at this story in regards to Zambrano’s kidnapping, and more broadly Guiado’s attempt at the presidency, Venezuela took a hit in four out of the five categories of the democracy index (electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political culture, and civil liberties).
Between continued political destabilization and the plethora of other issues facing them, Venezuela as a whole continues to be a worrying issue for the United Nations. Being top five for both population and economy in South America Venezuela is a key regional player and there is no wonder why the international eye is on them during the onslaught of these major problems. Because the military was unwilling to turn on Maduro and the protests of millions have not changed the political situation enough in either direction, Venezuela will remain a country wide, regionally important, and internationally significant issue to watch.