Venezuela: The End of an Illusionary Democracy?

Recent reports and commentaries on Venezuela suggest that the country, which supposedly had maintained a semblance of a democracy, has now undeniably transformed into a dictatorship. However, observations such as "the fraud has never been so obvious" merely reflect a new twist in the spiral of authoritarianism. Anyone claiming that Venezuela has only recently turned into a dictatorship has likely not been paying close attention to what had been happening in Venezuela over the past 10 years or so.

Let's be clear: The current situation in Venezuela is nothing new. The recent developments merely confirm what was apparent a decade ago. This recognition is crucial for understanding the nature of the regime we are dealing with, who we negotiate with and about what, and how such negotiations should be approached. It is futile to negotiate with Maduro over internal political freedoms. Wo don't do this with his sponsors like Putin or Xi either. Whoever feels better then is welcome to make further moral speeches against the Caracas regime. But the focus of real politics should be on mitigating the damage the regime causes for its people and managing the externally fallout.

The recent election debacle in Venezuela has clarified the lines between the different international observers and commentators, be it media, organizations or politicians. Those who continue to show goodwill toward the Caracas regime and believe in the presence of some residual kind of democratic structures in Venezuela are either ideologically blinded or maliciously na?ve.

The international community must now definitely recognize the true nature of the Venezuelan regime and adjust its approach accordingly. The focus should be on containing the external damage and managing the internal repercussions rather than betting on internal democratic reforms in the foreseeable future. This clarity is essential for any meaningful engagement with the Venezuelan situation.

P.D., as a sort of disclaimer: Admittedly, over the past four years, Venezuela has not been as prominent on my radar as it once was. That's partly because in 2020 I stopped reporting daily for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , for which the Venezuela story had always been one of the most interesting and consistent topics. Moreover, after more than twenty years of covering Venezuela, and having witnessed the rise and rule of Hugo Chávez and his unspeakable successor-imitator, Nicolás Maduro, I had developed a deep frustration that reached a point where I felt quite uncomfortable covering Venezuela. But these days the Venezuela virus has caught me again.