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        Venezuela's Worsening Conditions Threaten Legacy of Hugo Chavez

   by Brian Padden

   One year ago, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced the death
   of Hugo Chavez - the socialist leader who had governed the country for
   14 years - and vowed to preserve his mentor's legacy.
   Today, worsening economic conditions, soaring crime and growing
   protests nationwide have many questioning whether Maduro can keep the
   Chavista coalition together - absent the late president's charismatic
   leadership.
   Followers of the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez took to the streets
   Wednesday to mark the anniversary of his death. Among Chavez
   supporters, affection for the charismatic leader still runs high.
   But there is also growing anger and frustration about the direction the
   country is heading.
   Inflation hit 56 percent last year. There are shortages of basic
   commodities such as cooking oil and flour and one of the highest murder
   rates in the world.
   ''
   Student-led anti-government demonstrations are heading into their
   second month and have in some cases turned deadly - as protesters
   clashed with National Guard officers and police.
   Ronn Pineo, a Latin America analyst with the Council on Hemispheric
   Affairs who admired Chavez, says many people are losing faith in his
   successor President Maduro.
   "Maduro is not that man," he said. "And part of what we are seeing now
   is an individual who just doesn't have the same level of charisma. He's
   not as savvy politically."
   Still, Venezuela's worsening conditions have not changed the country's
   political dynamics, says analyst Michael Shifter of the Inter-American
   Dialogue.
   "A lot of the discontent extends to the people who supported Chavez,"
   he said. "What hasn't happened is that many of those people have come
   over to the opposition."
   In the most recent municipal elections in December, the ruling
   socialist parties bested the opposition.
   Support for the social programs that Chavez initiated - that greatly
   reduced poverty and improved health care - remain popular.
   But Pineo says Maduro has been unwilling or unable to make needed
   reforms to protect the sustainability of these programs, as his mentor
   had done in the past.
   "Chavez went too soon," he said. "He wasn't given enough of an
   opportunity [to] finally cement into place some of the things that he
   had built."
   While Maduro has called for dialogue to deal with the nation's
   problems, observers say his inaction so far has tarnished the legacy of
   Hugo Chavez.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/venezuelas-worsening-conditions-threaten-legacy-of-hugo-chavez/1865012.html