Venezuela Braces For A Tough Year Ahead
Times are tough in Venezuela and likely to get even tougher this year.
Before oil prices started crashing last summer, cutting revenue for the oil-rich country, President Nicolas Maduro was already presiding over a country plagued by food shortages, soaring inflation and rising discontent.
All this has made the president unpopular in many quarters. And it would seem to present a golden opportunity for opponents of the country's socialist government that's held power for the past 15 years.
However, Venezuela's opposition remains fractured and weak while one of its main leaders, Leopoldo Lopez, is behind bars.
Last February, Lopez helped lead massive anti-government demonstrations that he hoped would force the resignation of Maduro. Instead, Lopez was arrested and charged with inciting violence during the protests, which left 43 people dead.
His incarceration is taking a toll on his family.
His wife, Lilian Tintori, recently climbed into the back of an SUV with her 5-year-old daughter Manuela. They were headed to the outskirts of Caracas to visit Lopez, who is being held being held at the Ramo Verde military prison.
Tintori says her daughter often asks things like, "Why did Maduro put my father in jail? Why they don't want to open the door of the cell?"
"So, it's a lot for a kid," Tintori adds. "And she asks me, 'Mommy, my father is going to die in jail?'"
Yet Tintori insists her husband did the right thing. His imprisonment, she says, has exposed the authoritarian nature of the Maduro government.
People queue outside a store to buy home appliances at a preferential price in Caracas last November. The country is suffering from many shortages of basic goods.
Human Rights Watch, the United Nations and the Obama administration all say the charges are trumped up and have called for Lopez's release.
His jailing means that for the past 11 months, Venezuela's most charismatic opposition leader has been effectively silenced. Critics say the opposition has repeatedly miscalculated and has ended up bolstering the socialist revolution launched by Hugo Chavez in 1999.
In 2002, for example, opposition leaders supported a military coup that briefly ousted the democratically elected Chavez. They also promoted a strike by oil workers that severely damaged the economy.
In recent years, a more democratic opposition has been gaining ground. In last year's presidential election, challenger Henrique Capriles nearly defeated Maduro, who succeeded Chavez following his 2013 death from cancer.
Since then, inflation has skyrocketed and Venezuelans face shortages of food, medicine and consumer goods. But instead of offering alternatives, the opposition – which includes politicians from the far left to the far right - has been bickering over strategy and leadership. Capriles and Lopez have gone from close allies to bitter rivals.
As a result, average Venezuelans like Lucila Florez, who sells fruit in a working-class suburb of Caracas, remain skeptical.
"I don't see any unity. Lopez and Capriles are each going their own way. And a divided country will never amount to anything," she says.
With Lopez behind bars, Maria Corina Machado has emerged as Venezuela's strongest opposition voice.
But she's also paying a steep price. In April, she was stripped of her seat in Congress for criticizing the government at an international forum. Last month, prosecutors charged Machado with plotting to assassinate Maduro. As with Lopez, she says, the government appears to be using the legal system to gag its critics.
"What they want is silence and a docile opposition. And that is not what they are going to get. We have the right to speak out the truth," says Machado.
Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez (dressed in white and holding a flower stem) is taken into custody in Caracas in February 2014. He is being held at a military prison outside the capital. He led protest rallies a year ago. The opposition is currently divided and weak.
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Transcript
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Rachel Martin.
Venezuela is dealing with food shortages, massive inflation, and rising discontent; all this despite the country's rich oil reserves. And it's happened under the leadership of the socialist government that's held power for the past 15 years. So you'd think these problems would present a golden opportunity for the political opposition in that country. Instead, that political bloc remains fractured and weak with one of its main leaders behind bars. Reporter John Otis explains why.
JOHN OTIS, BYLINE: Lilian Tintori climbs into the back of an SUV with her five-year-old daughter. They're on their way to a prison on the outskirts of Caracas to visit Tintori's husband, opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez.
LILIAN TINTORI: We are going to Ramo Verde prison. It's a military prison.
OTIS: Back in February, Lopez helped lead massive antigovernment demonstrations that he hoped would force the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro. Instead, Lopez was arrested and charged with inciting violence during the protests which left 43 people dead. His incarceration is taking a huge toll on his family.
TINTORI: My daughter, Manuela, 5 years old, she asks a lot, why Maduro put my father in jail? Why they don't want to open the door of the cell? So it's a lot for a kid. And she asked me, mommy, my father's going to die in jail?
OTIS: Human Rights Watch, the UN, and the Obama administration all say the charges are trumped up and have called for Lopez's release. Still, Lopez may have miscalculated. His jailing means that for the past 11 months, Venezuela's most charismatic opposition leader has been effectively silenced. His actions, critics say, form part of a pattern of blunders by the opposition that have ended up bolstering the socialist revolution launched by Hugo Chavez in 1999.
(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)
OTIS: In 2002, for example, opposition leaders supported a military coup that briefly ousted the democratically-elected Chavez. They also promoted a strike by oil workers that severely damaged the economy.
(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)
OTIS: In recent years, a more democratic opposition has been gaining ground. In the 2013 presidential election, challenger Henrique Capriles nearly defeated Maduro, who nearly defeated Chavez that same year following his death from cancer.
Since then, inflation has skyrocketed and Venezuelans face shortages of food, medicine, and consumer goods. However the government still holds huge advantages, including massive oil income. Most major news outlets are pro-government, making it hard for critics to get their message out.
Meanwhile, the opposition, which includes politicians from the far left to the far right, has been bickering over strategy and leadership. Capriles and Lopez have gone from close allies to bitter rivals.
LUCILA FLOREZ: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: As a result, average Venezuelans like Lucila Florez, who sells fruit in a working-class suburb of Caracas, remain skeptical.
OTIS: She says...
FLOREZ: (Through interpreter) I don't see any unity. Lopez and Capriles are each going their own way, and a divided country will never amount to anything.
(SOUNDBITE OF RALLY)
OTIS: With Lopez behind bars, Maria Corina Machado has emerged as Venezuela's most militant opposition voice.
(SOUNDBITE OF RALLY)
MARIA CORINA MACHADO: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: But she's also paying a steep price. In April, she was stripped of her seat in Congress for criticizing the government at an international forum. Last month, prosecutors charged Machado with plotting to assassinate President Maduro. As with Lopez, she says the government appears to be using the legal system to gag its critics.
MACHADO: What they want is a silence and docile opposition. And that's not what they're going to get. We have the right to speak out the truth.
TINTORI: (Spanish spoken).
OTIS: After an hour-long ride to the prison to visit Lopez, the guards won't let me in. So I say goodbye to his wife and daughter. But before leaving, Lilian Tintori insists her husband did the right thing. His unjust imprisonment, she says, has finally exposed to the world the authoritarian nature of the Maduro government.
For NPR News, I'm John Otis. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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