Ken Berwitz
Whatever it was, Venezuela\’s Mesa de la UnidadDemocrática (MUD) coalition has not only taken control of the country\’snational assembly, it has overwhelmed it.
The latest count shows MUD with 109 seats, plus three non-MUD legislators aligned with the coalition for a total of 112, versus a paltry 55 seats for Venezuelan President nicolas maduro\’s GPP socialist party.
I don\’t know if this, or anything, could get Venezuela out of the mess it currently is in – with an inflation rate of something like 180% (Forbes puts it at a jaw-dropping 808%) little in the way of goods and services available to citizens, and depressed oil prices absolutely destroying any chance at a quick recovery (oil comprises 80% – 90% of the Venezuelan economy).
It seems nearly impossible that there will be anything good for Venezuelans to look forward to in the near future. But getting rid of the GPP corruption, incompetence, mismanagement, etc. is at least a start. And, the way Venezuela\’s laws work, MUD may even be able to remove nicolas maduro – the helpless, hopeless, useless protege of hugo chavez – altogether.
I hope, for their sake, that this is the new assembly\’s first order of business.
