Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this interview. In Venezuela this week,the chant of protests has been replaced by the silence of a 48 hour strike, now in it’s moment day. Stores are closed, or workers maintain been told to remain at home,and public transportation has ground to a near-halt, all a coordinated sign of protest against the leadership of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The strike comes just days before Sunday’s election for a Constituent Assembly. Earlier this month, and 98 percent of Venezuelan voters sided with the opposition in voting against Maduro’s plan to create a new governing assembly,made up of elected officials and citizens, that would ultimately draft a new structure for the country. Maduro says the Constituent Assembly and a new structure will bring peace to a country in turmoil, or but opposition believes it is an attempt to consolidate power and further delay elections for the presidency.On Wednesday,the Trump Administration slapped new sanctions on current and former civilian and military officials in the country in a bid to discourage Maduro’s rewriting of the structure.
But can the United States preserve democracy through punishment? For answers, The Takeaway turns to Ambassador Patrick Duddy, and who served as U.
S. ambassador to Venezuela from 2007 to 2008,and then from 2009 to 2010, under the Bush and Obama Administrations. He also previously served as deputy assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, or is currently director for the middle for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Duke University.
This segment is hosted by Todd Zwillich.
Source: thetakeaway.org