{"id":364025,"date":"2018-06-04T21:02:43","date_gmt":"2018-06-04T20:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/how-venezuela-re-elected-maduro-defying-the-u-s-consortiumnews\/"},"modified":"2018-06-04T21:02:43","modified_gmt":"2018-06-04T20:02:43","slug":"how-venezuela-re-elected-maduro-defying-the-u-s-consortiumnews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/how-venezuela-re-elected-maduro-defying-the-u-s-consortiumnews\/","title":{"rendered":"How Venezuela Re-elected Maduro, Defying the U.S. \u2013 Consortiumnews"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nicol\u00e1s Maduro overcame intense opposition from Washington and rich Venezuelans to be re-elected, but he\u2019s not out of the woods yet, as Roger D. Harris explains. <\/span><\/p>\n

By Roger D. Harris
<\/b><\/span>in Caracas<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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The United States and the right-wing opposition in Venezuela had demanded an election boycott and Maduro\u2019s resignation. Instead, a majority of Venezuelans defiantly voted for Maduro, affirming the legacy of Hugo Ch\u00e1vez.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ch\u00e1vez was first elected in 1998 and died in office on March 5, 2013. He had spearheaded a movement that turned Venezuela from an epigone of Washington into an independent force opposing U.S. hegemony. The Bolivarian Revolution reclaimed Venezuela\u2019s history and forged a new national identity that no longer looked to Miami for affirmation. Even some of the most anti-chavismo<\/i> now take pride in being Venezuelan. Such has been the depth of the sea change in national consciousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

Venezuelan society became more inclusive for the poor, especially women, people of color, and youth. Of the 300-odd mayoralties in Venezuela, over 100 mayors are under 30 years old. As historian Greg Grandin observed<\/a>, this inclusiveness has awakened \u201ca deep fear of the primal hatred, racism, and fury of the opposition, which for now is directed at the agents of Maduro\u2019s state but really springs from Ch\u00e1vez\u2019s expansion of the public sphere to include Venezuela\u2019s poor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On a geopolitical level, the Bolivarian Revolution placed a renewed focus on opposing U.S. dominance. While some on the left have become confused<\/a> about opposing imperialism, Washington has made regime change in Venezuela a priority<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maduro inherited all this and more: a dysfunctional currency system, deeply engrained corruption, an entrenched criminal element, a petro-economy dependent on the international market, and the eternal enmity of Washington. <\/span><\/p>\n

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