(photo credit goes to Diario Las Americas)
Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro is in trouble. After running on the coattails of former President Hugo Chavez, and barely winning the 2013 election by a mere 1.39%, him and his party have lost a significant of the support it formerly had in the country. This drop in support could be a result of a variety of authoritarian grabs he has made as the President of Venezuela, and the damage the drop in oil prices have done to the economy during his presidency. The loss of support is made obvious from this table of polls stored in Wikipedia since 2013.
Maduro and the left wing GPPSB have dropped from 40%-45% spread in the polls in the last election to a horrendous 15%-20% in the more recent polls taken in 2017. This loss of support directly correlates with the government's authoritarian moves to continue holding onto power, including a disputedly rigged regional election in 2017 that defied all polls and allowed his party to win the governorships in most areas of the country, and the assembling of a constitutional assembly amid nearly 80% of the population being against it. These regional elections were also banned by the 3 out of the 4 main parties representing the opposition in Venezuela, partially explaining why they are so far off the polling.
The main opposition alliance MUD (Democratic Unity Roundtable) is a center-left coalition of parties running on an anti-Chavez, anti-GPPSB message to bring change to Venezuela and allow for the country to escape the era of Chavez. Three of the four main parties making up the MUD coalition, Democratic Action, A New Era, and Popular Will are all affiliates of the center-left group Socialist International. In 2015, MUD dominated the legislative elections, obtaining a majority and taking the majority away from the PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela, the main party leading the GPPSB) for the first time since before Chavez became President. As long as there are clean elections and no new swings of support in favor of Maduro and the GPPSB, it is looking abundantly clear MUD will have no trouble winning in 2018. Potential contenders for the MUD nomination are former two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski, Popular Will leader Leopoldo López, and current President of the National Assembly (legislature) Henry Ramos Allup.
Maduro realizes this trouble he is in and has threatened to ban all main opposition parties from running. These threats turned to an official ban earlier on December 11th, in which 3/4 main affiliates of the MUD were banned from running in the 2018 election. This ban occurred as a result of these 3 parties refusing to participate in the municipal elections in 2017 as a way of protest against the rigging of elections by the GPPSB. This move is widely opposed by the people of Venezuela, however, may be just enough to allow him to hold onto power.
(source of information on ban - BBC)
Do you think Maduro will be able to hold on to power, or will the opposition find a way to rally the people of Venezuela and unseat him from the Presidency? Please Comment your own opinion!