Tension in Venezuela is growing by the minute, as the July 30th election to vote on President Maduro’s proposed Constituent Assembly to rewrite the country’s constitution nears. At this point, only Maduro and his band of loyal followers believe this is a good idea. Pressure to call off the elections is coming from all sides. From Trump imposing sanctions on 13 senior Venezuelan officials this week and threatening to impose economic sanctions (bad idea) on Venezuela if the government went ahead with the assembly, to Delta and Avianca suspending their flights to Venezuela, to the Venezuelan opposition having called for a 48-hour general strike on Wednesday, the country is on the brink, with the international community watching.
The only countries Maduro can turn to for support are those he subsidizes. And while they can protect him from the OAS, they can’t do much to stop U.S. sanctions or the sanctions of other countries should they decide to step up. Maduro is faced with a tough decision: will he crack under pressure? Or will he ignore the threats and go ahead with his Constituent Assembly? All our questions will be answered on Sunday.
Photo credit: Arcadio Esquivel, Costa Rica, Caglecartoons.com
