Revival of economy can bail out Maduro

Opponents in Venezuela are pushing President Nicolas Maduro to the wall, accusing him of driving the oil-rich country to the brink of economic collaps. They have launched a marathon process to call a vote on ousting him from office. But Maduro is defiant as he vowed on Saturday that the government would be suing to have the referendum request revoked on ground of fraud.
It is unclear whether this would help him. Maduro cited the rolls of signatures taken for the ‘recall vote’ included 11,000 dead people and 2,000 convicts.
However, as people feel the pinch, protests, looting and violent crime have been mounting in Venezuela as the country reels from shortages of food, water, medicine and electricity. On Thursday, police fired tear gas to break up a protest led by lawmakers in the opposition-majority congress.
This break in order extended to towns and cities across Venezuela, a once-booming oil producer that has skidded to the brink of collapse.
Instead of taking the bull by its horns, Maduro blamed the violence on his political enemies and vowed to throw the “provocateurs” into prison. He has long dismissed the centre-right opposition as elitist, and their protests against his government as a capitalist conspiracy.
Home to the world’s largest oil reserves, Venezuela has taken a punishing beating from the sharp drop in the price of crude, on which its economy is built. It is stuck in a deep recession and its inflation rate is the highest in the world.
Worse still, a drought has dramatically cut output at the country’s hydroelectric dams, forcing the government to implement daily power cuts and close state offices all but two days a week.
The Venezuelan Observatory for Social Conflict, a monitoring group, says 254 incidents of looting or attempted looting erupted in the first five months of the year. There were 2,779 protests over shortages or interrupted water and
electricity supplies in the same period, the group says.
Spontaneous demonstrations like the ones by the bus drivers and the residents of Petare have sent a clear and loud message.
Maduro himself is a former bus driver, and Petare is the kind of neighbourhood that used to be bastions for the Socialist leader and his late predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
But the current economic crisis has badly damaged Maduro’s popularity, which is in the 20s halfway into his six-year term. His image as a leader has
apparently been tarnished beyond repair.
Two things could bail Maduro out: the rise of oil prices and the rainfall. However, it would be a folly to if the President ties his future on chances. If Maduro has to keep his power, he has to win back the trust of the people by reviving the economy and taking bold steps to tackle the twin crisis of electricity and food. Only if he gives the right push to the sagging economy, will he stand a chance!