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Latin America
Related: About this forumVenezuela is facing 'a very serious blow to the regime'
http://www.businessinsider.com/venezuela-is-facing-a-very-serious-blow-to-the-regime-2015-5Venezuela is afflicted with the world's highest inflation, its second highest murder rate and crippling shortages of food, medicine and basic consumer goods. Its authoritarian government is holding some 70 political prisoners, including the mayor of Caracas and senior opposition leader Leopoldo López, and stands accused by human rights groups of illegal detentions, torture and repression of independent media.
All of that is now pretty well known, and it is finally beginning to gain some attention from Latin American leaders who for years did their best to appease or ignore Hugo Chávez and his "Bolivarian Revolution." What's less understood is the complicating factor that will make any political change or economic reconstruction in this failing state far more difficult: The Chávez regime, headed since his demise by Nicolás Maduro, harbors not just a clique of crackpot socialists, but also one of the world's biggest drug cartels.
Ever since Colombian commandos captured the laptop of a leader of the FARC organization eight years ago, it's been known that Chávez gave the Colombian narcoguerrillas sanctuary and allowed them to traffic cocaine from Venezuela to the United States with the help of the Venezuelan army. But not until a former Chávez bodyguard defected to the United States in January did the scale of what is called the "Cartel of the Suns " start to become publicly known.
According to multiple news accounts, Leamsy Salazar has been cooperating with U.S. federal prosecutors who are developing criminal cases against a host of senior Venezuelan generals and government officials. Chief among them is the man Salazar began guarding after Chávez's death: Diosdado Cabello, the president of the National Assembly and the second most powerful member of the regime after Maduro.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/venezuela-is-facing-a-very-serious-blow-to-the-regime-2015-5#ixzz3bDD3l0uD
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/venezuela-is-facing-a-very-serious-blow-to-the-regime-2015-5#ixzz3bDCuvspi
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Venezuela is facing 'a very serious blow to the regime' (Original Post)
Bacchus4.0
May 2015
OP
MADem
(135,425 posts)1. They think that torturing opposition leaders will solve their problems. It's really rather pathetic,
Diosdado Cabello's involvement in drugs transshipment, too, is problematic for him and the regime.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)2. What's the end result going to be for the region, any opinion on that?
I don't see Maduro giving in to the opposition, I feel he's going to dig in his heels. He has no choice except to keep doing what he is doing or go into exile. Since the oppostition is in jail, I don't see them forming a new government, either.
Sorry the LBN thread got locked, I am still reading it. But no way to respond now.
Sorry the LBN thread got locked, I am still reading it. But no way to respond now.
Bacchus4.0
(6,837 posts)3. They won't accept an opposition victory. I imagine they will...
continue to jail or disqualify opposition candidates. For the region, the other nations will take the easy and cowardly way out and hope that Venezuela remains relatively stable and tolerate Maduro. Chavistas won't relinquish power. Its all up to Venezuelans. Exile, without much bloodshed, would be one of the better scenarios.