The Heat: Venezuela crisis

The Heat

An anti-government demonstrator rests on the ground near a barricade in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, July 30, 2017. Venezuelans appear to be abstaining in massive numbers in a show of silent protest against a vote to select a constitutional assembly giving the government virtually unlimited powers. Across the capital on Sunday, dozens of polling places were empty or had a few dozens or hundreds of people outside, orders of magnitude less than the turnout in recent elections. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

For Nicolas Maduro last Sunday’s victory put in place a new legislative body with the power to rewrite the country’s constitution and solidify his power.

It comes at a time of deep economic uncertainty, with shortages of basic necessities, record homicides and according to one university study, nearly 87 percent of the population unable to afford food.

In the four months leading up to the vote, at least 125 people were killed as thousands took to the streets in protest.

CGTN’s Stephen Gibbs reports from Caracas.
Follow Stephen Gibbs on Twitter @STHGibbs

What’s the future of Venezuela and can the country handle this crisis? Tonight’s panel takes a look at the crisis:

  • Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue
  • Jennifer McCoy, director of the Carter Center’s Americas Program.
  • Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research
  • George Ciccariello-Maher, an associate professor at Drexel University