Venezuela: The end of a revolution?

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/03/venezuela-end-revolution-201431994958327581.html

With the gunning down of protesters its Carlos Andres Perez all over again.

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After fifteen years of Chavismo (named after the late president Hugo Chavez), or Madurismo (for current President Nicolas Maduro), the country is facing a devastating crisis. Chavez himself warned before assuming the presidency that if the revolution would not deliver what it was promising, people would go on to the streets and take him down. Does this wave of protests fulfil Chavez's prophecy, and the end of the Bolivarian revolution? Partly, yes.

The shambles of Venezuela's economy

Looking at the economy today is like observing the Titanic sink. Although Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves worldwide, and the eighth largest gas reserves, its economy is drowning. Chavez's promise of diversifying the economy and putting an end to the rentier-model of the fourth republic did not come true. Economists say that the rentier-model actually exacerbated under his administration.

Today Venezuela is more dependent on its oil revenues than it was ever before. While in 1999 oil represented 76 percent of exports, in 2012, this number rose to 96 percent. The economy remains undiversified and the trade has suffered severe setbacks. Moreover, the appreciation of the exchange rate made imports cheaper, and rising oil prices decreased the necessity for national production.

Within a year the price of the basic set of good a family needs (as determined by the Centre for Documentation and Social Analysis of the Venezuelan Medical Federation) rose by 66 percent; Venezuelans would need 4.9 minimum wages to cover basic costs. Furthermore, many of these goods can hardly be found. These figures suggest that economic revolution did not happen; in fact the economy has nearly collapsed.

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The undemocratic nature of Maduro's regime has become evident. Freedom of expression is suffering, and censorship is widespread. Newspapers do not have access to enough foreign currency to buy paper to print the news. Radio is also mostly controlled by the state. Even Twitter, which was initially a medium for dissenters to communicate, suffered some service disruption.