Crisis in Venezuela Intensified After the Arrest of the Mayor of Caracas and the Death of a Teenage Protester

!!!

While Venezuela’s economic situation seems to teeter closer to the edge, its highly antagonistic political atmosphere also continues to worsen.  As President Nicolás Maduro’s approval numbers have fallen into the low twenties, he has repeatedly blamed the nation’s troubles on international conspiracies (largely originating in the United States) linked to the domestic political opposition.  He has also claimed to uncover a string of alleged coup attempts, and on February 19^th he arrested opposition leader and mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma for involvement.  Tensions were increased even more when 14-year-old Kluiverth Roa was killed by a rubber bullet fired by police on February 24^th.  The opposition rallied against the government and international observers expressed concerns. 

And while leaders on the Latin American Left continued to stand by Maduro and leftist commentators find the coup charges plausible (given what seemed like U.S. acquiescence to the 2002 coup attempt against then President Hugo Chávez), other pundits pointed to Maduro’s deteriorating political position, even among Venezuelan socialists.