The United States (with Human Rights groups) and the Venezuelan government are at odds over the jailing of Mr. Leopoldo Lopez, who wants presidential elections to take place sooner than scheduled.

Referring to gubernatorial elections set for last December that were delayed and not yet rescheduled, Lopez called for a referendum on whether the presidential election set for 2018 should be held in 2017 instead. more

Venezuela’s economy is dependent on oil production. The fall in oil prices has put the ‘squeeze’ on the country’s growth despite business investments from foreign oil companies.
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Venezuela’s socialist government is imposing ‘austerity’ on the citizens.
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And the decline in quality of life is causing social and political unrest. The citizens say that the government is doing a poor job of managing domestic resources and the government is rebuking that people are not being patriotic. Venezuela has a Constitution and the current government’s legitimacy was questioned based on that Constitution to be reaffirmed by the courts.
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Political opposition protest persists based on incidences of crime, inflation, corruption and scarcity that are on the rise.
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