By the same token, Maduro should be criticized for violating the spirit of democracy without being distracted by any debate over whetherVenezuela is still technically a democracy. Even if many of the criticisms are self-serving or throwing stones from a glass house, enough remains valid from any standpoint. If the criticism only comes from ideologically opposed countries, it loses its force. It is the region’s leftwing and populist governments who urgently need to stop turning a blind eye to the outrages in Venezuela and to start pressuring Maduro to show more respect for the spirit of democracy for the sake of the credibility of their ideology. Venezuela’s institutional collapse needs to be stopped now before it enters into a sinister new phase of civil strife between pro-government and opposition mobs.

Source: Bueno Aires Herald October 25, 2016 05:37 UTC