Weeks after Brazilian President Dilmah Rousseff stormy ousting from power, another Latin American nation – Venezuela has found itself in troubled waters with its leader Nicolas Maduro facing the threat of a coup, orchestrated from abroad.
After violent street protests in early June, which left several people dead with opposition leaders calling for a civil disobedience campaign, a mass rally of Nicolas Maduro’s supporters was held in Caracas this week. In the meantime, Maduro’s government has called on the Constitutional Court to block the referendum, initiated by the opposition to strip Mr. Maduro of power, terminating his presidential mandate.
Skyrocketed to the position of national leader after the death of his political mentor Hugo Chavez, Nicolas Maduro whose presidential term expires in January 2019 has yet to prove he has enough guts not to allow regime change and safeguard the legacy of Chavez — the icon of neo-Bolivarian political philosophy.
To discuss this in more detail we are joined by Vladimir Ivanov, Head of the EastWest Institute in Russia; Viktor Heifitz, Director at the Center of Iberamerican Studies; and Dr. George Conyne, History Professor at the University of Kent.