Venezuela's Election, Maduro, and What the U.S. Gets Wrong About Venezuela & Chavismo w/ Alejandro Velasco

Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

On this edition of Parallax Views, New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study's Prof. Alejandro Velasco, author of Barrio Rising: Urban Popular Politics and the Making of Modern Venezuela, joins the show to discuss the controversial Venezuela elections and the ways in which analysis of the elections and the modern history of Venezuela from U.S. commentators of the Left, the Rigth, and the Center has proven facile. Prof. Velasco, argues that the picture is more complex than either those on the Right who believe Maduro is being couped by an orchestrated color revolution, those on the Right who believe Biden's easing of sanctions has led Nicolás Maduro to consolidate more power in Venezuela, and Centrists who argue all Venezuela's problems are contingent on the legacy of Hugo Chavez.

The recent Venezuelan election resulted in much controversy, with even Chavistas being upset with Maduro and footage of resident of the Venezuelan barrios, the urban streets from which Chavismo have traditionally garnered much support from ordinary people, dissenting after the election results were announced. The election results which led to Maduro being declared victorious are believed by a number of different parties. The Carter Center, for example, has said that the elections "cannot be considered democratic". Protest have erupted in the streets of Venezuela's capitol, Caracas.

Given the history of coup attempts in Venezuela, many Leftists in the U.S. and internationally the controversy around this election is actually just U.S.-directed dirty tricks. Prof. Velasco offers a different analysis while also directly addressing the problems with the virulently anti-Chavista elements that lay the blame for all of this on the deceased Chavez. We'll discuss all of this as well as the effect of U.S. sanctions in Venezuela, how Maduro ignored warnings from left-wing economists about how his policies would cause inflation in Venezuela, why Prof. Velasco takes issue with historian and pundit Anne Applebaum's analysis of Venezuela and Hugo Chavez, how this year's election in Venezuela is different than previous elections, the National Electoral Council and the lack of precinct-by-precinct data released in the aftermath of this election, Hugo Chavez's concept of a "socialism for the 21st century", misperceptions about private property in Venezuela, Venezuela's economy and oil, Chavez vs. Maduro, the continuities between Chavez and Maduro and the even more important differences between Chavez and Maduro, material incentives for the Maduro government clinging to power, police raids and discontent in Venezuela, and much, much more.