With an economy that is expected to contract by seven per cent this year, inflation running at 68 per cent, a currency devaluation put at as much as 70 per cent, widespread shortages of consumer necessities, rising crime and plummeting oil prices, little wonder President Nicolas Maduro is showing signs of desperation and panic. Venezuela's president has an approval rating in the polls of around 22 per cent, the lowest in 16 years of the "socialist", "Bolivarian" rule initiated by his predecessor Hugo Chavez.
The problem , Maduro insists, is a US-inspired conspiracy to sabotage the economy and carry out a coup. Last week a local court arrested a major opposition figure mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma, and has had him charged with "conspiring to organise and carry out violent acts against the government". Conspiracy is punishable by eight to 16 years in jail. José Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the Organisation of American States, called the raid on the mayor's offices by heavily armed agents "alarming."
Officials have said a public document signed by Ledezma, a 59-year-old lawyer, and two other opposition leaders urging a transition is a roadmap for an uprising. They also claim he was among various politicians supporting a new plot with dissident military officers to topple the president via air strikes. Maduro alleges an international plot involving Colombian paramilitary forces, Venezuelan expatriates in Miami, right-wing Spanish politicians and the US.
Meanwhile, according to civil rights groups, 33 of the 50 opposition mayors in the country are facing legal action in connection with anti-government protests last year which left 43 people dead.
Venezuela sits on the world's largest oil reserves, and is an OPEC member state. But Caracas's long dependence on oil to fund its budget and pay for its radical programmes nationally and internationally – and long delay in diversification – has been rocked by sliding oil prices. Protests over shortages in recent weeks have been much smaller than last year after the defence minister in late January authorised the use of deadly force to maintain public order. But Maduro who faces parliamentary elections this year can not keep the lid on the pot indefinitely.