Evo Morales, Nicolás Maduro and Rafael Correa. 2013. Flickr, some rights reserved.
We are witnessing the end of Latin American populism as we have known it in the last ten years. While other more nativist types of populism are thriving in Europe, Latin American populism is at the end of its recent cycle of popularity. In Venezuela, bad economic indicators jeopardise its expansion of social rights, while political rights and the existence of an independent press continue to be curtailed. This combination of crisis and repression makes President Nicolás Maduro’s regime more akin to classical authoritarian regimes of left and right, thus putting in question its characterisation as a populist one.
Some followers of Venezuela's government might prefer to try to undo its increasing hostility towards those whose disagree with Maduro. His predecessor, (Commander) Hugo Chávez, once accepted the result of a constitutional referendum even though the other side had won. Maduro - with his use of non-democratic means to affect electoral results, deporting of immigrants, and further restrictions on media - seems to be moving in the opposite direction.
