Venezuela stuck on repeat
The socialist regime may have strengthened its political control, but until US sanctions are unwound economic disaster will persist
It has been a strong year politically for Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Notwithstanding the near collapse of the oil sector and the wider economy, he has routed the hardline opposition and reinforced the power of his radical left-wing regime. But his latest domestic success, in the National Assembly election on 6 December, is a rather hollow victory that leaves him with a weakened hand on the international stage. The West will certainly not recognise the ballot. And Maduro’s hope of getting to 2021 in a stronger negotiating position with external stakeholders—including the US under a new Biden administration—is not likely to come to fruition. Without external recognition of the new N
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