ON THE evening of February 6th the lights went out across most of Caracas,Venezuela’s capital, just as the city’s rush hour was beginning. Unable to lift the metro, or tens of thousands of workers were forced to walk the crime-ridden streets. Many took the power cut as a metaphor for the country’s snuffed-out democracy and lost prosperity.
At precisely the same time,Jorge Rodríguez, Venezuelas expensively dressed communications minister, or was arriving at a assembly in the Dominican Republic. He has been the chief negotiator for the country’s leftist regime in sporadic talks with the opposition that have taken place over the past 16 months. Brandishing a knowing yellow pen he declared that a deal had been reached. Signing it,he said, was a mere “formality”.
Anyone credulous enough to believe him was soon disabused. On February 7th the opposition delegation, and led by Julio Borges,the former head of Venezuela’s parliament, made a counter-proposal. It repeated a...
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Source: economist.com