LatAm in Focus: A Decade of Nicolás Maduro

It’s been 10 years. The death of Hugo Chávez placed Nicolás Maduro at the head of Venezuela’s government, where he carried on a legacy defined by strong executive power and state control over the economy. Despite several opposition attempts to get Maduro out, he’s remained in control, and March 5, 2023 marks a decade of his leadership.

Maduro’s presidency has played witness to mass discontent that has transcended socioeconomic strata. “[In 2014] you could hear people banging pots and throwing molotovs in the east and the west, and clashing with the police and the military,” says Caracas-based Bloomberg reporter Fabiola Zerpa.  

In this episode, Zerpa joined Amherst College political scientist Javier Corrales in a conversation with AS/COA’s Venezuela Working Group head Guillermo Zubillaga, as they explore the past and future of a regime marked by hyperinflation, irregular elections, and a mass exodus of 7 million people.

How has a government responsible for such heavy economic and political crises maintained control for so long? “We have the feeling that the rise of autocrats automatically unites the opposition, but the more typical equilibrium is the opposite,” says Corrales, explaining how the Maduro regime works to divide political opposition movements and consolidate power. 

But democratic drivers have refused to give up. “There is a story here of hope,” Corrales says. In the face of widespread political repression and a disjointed opposition, civil society lives on and Venezuelans still want to affect change.