Abstract

For the past few months, Venezuela has witnessed intense protests against the rule of President Nicolás Maduro by the opposition. In this article, I provide context for the protest movement, particularly its root causes. I explain that the students currently in the streets of Venezuela are too young to remember the opposition’s past failures. I also link the current wave to the last three years of Venezuela’s history, a period that witnessed a dying President, a rapidly deteriorating economy, a sharp rise in crime, and the curtailment of civil liberties.