Latin America Shows No Sympathy for Venezuela

[FBaggins]

When Venezuela's head of state arrived in Quito, Ecuador, last week for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States summit, his pitch was almost unrecognizable. Gone were the encomiums to 21st-century socialism and the late President Hugo Chavez's set-piece barbs against yanqui imperialism. In their place were contrition and beseeching.

"Venezuela is in a very difficult situation; I've come to hold a series of meetings with our brother countries, brother presidents," President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's successor, said on Jan. 27, prior to the opening of the regional meeting. "I've come to propose a series of possible measures for Latin America to respond to Venezuela's economic emergency, to boost free trade, to increase complementarity and solidarity." Later that day, Maduro enjoined leaders to embrace "a common plan" to confront "the current economic crisis" facing the region, but there was little doubt which country he wanted embraced.

...snip...

What was new in Quito was not only the official candor about Venezuela's mess, but also the rest of the region's relative indifference to it. A few years back, when Chavez ran things, the charismatic strongman could charm a parley with his rhetorical flourishes and garner sympathy even when his policies went awry. Not so Maduro, who inherited Chavez's hubris but not his bons mots or skills as a Machiavellian conniver.

Nor does wrecking the economy in the name of revolution or tossing dissidents in jail go down so well anymore in a region where constitutional democracy is gaining ground. Latin leaders stopped short of outright saying no to Maduro's pleas, but they also didn't rally to his rescue. Peace talks in Colombia, turmoil in Haiti and the devastating outbreak of the Zika virus dominated talk at the summit, eclipsing Venezuela's troubles.


http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-02-01/latin-america-shows-no-sympathy-for-venezuela

[Marksman_91]

1. The likes of Correa, Morales, and Rousseff are smart enough to know that Maduro dun good'f up

They know that Venezuela's situation is not some USA/CIA induced crisis. It's all on the Maduro administrations idiotic policies, corruption, and incompetence. It's gotten to the point now where this can no longer be hidden and blamed on outside entities (except for your typical Marxist useful idiot, of course).