Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials On The Crisis In Venezuela -- July 28, 2017

Washington Post editorial: Venezuela’s lawless regime staggers toward a coup

IN DEFIANCE of the vast majority of its own people, the Venezuelan government is pressing ahead with a plan to dismantle what remains of the country’s democratic political institutions. This Sunday it intends to stage a rigged vote to create a constituent assembly that would have the power to overrule all other bodies, including the elected National Assembly, state governors and courts. Though President Nicolás Maduro and the corrupt clique around him have been vague about their ultimate intentions, it’s probable the constituent assembly will be used to abolish the opposition-controlled legislature, cancel future elections and establish a regime resembling that of Cuba’s.

Months of daily street demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, in which more than 100 people have died and more than 1,000 have been injured, have done nothing to stop the regime’s drive toward dictatorship. Last week, more than 7 million people opposed the constituent assembly in an opposition-organized referendum — or 2 million more than supported the government in the last election. The regime shrugged. Nor has it heeded appeals from its Latin American neighbors and other Western democracies.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials On The Crisis In Venezuela -- July 28, 2017

Venezuela crisis: a country on the edge -- Irish Times editorial
Venezuela crisis: A starving country is fed up with Maduro and the miserable failure of socialism -- John Moody, FOX News
Why democracy itself is on the ballot in Venezuela -- Zeeshan Aleem, VOX
Russians jostle to secure money lent to Venezuela -- John Dizard, Financial Times
Venezuelan oil sanctions carry risks for U.S. economy -- Daniel J. Graeber, UPI
Venezuela May Collapse, A First Among State Oil Producers -- Dimitra DeFotis, Barrons
AP Explains: What is Venezuela’s constituent assembly? -- AP