On Sunday, Venezuelans voted for the governors of their country’s states. While Venezuela has been plagued by recent violence, and its citizens doubt that their vote will even make a difference, some citizens still participated in the recent election. However, there are some conspiracies that the government is trying to deter Venezuelans from either voting for a candidate they don’t want, or to keep them from voting altogether. Nicolas Madura, president of Venezuela, has been accused of running a dictatorship, a statement he strongly refutes. He cites elections as proof that he is not a dictator, but many Venezuelans believe otherwise, as evident by the government’s hesitance to help people vote.
The turnout for this past election was much lower compared to others in the past. Many believe this is because Venezuelans are losing hope and trust in their government. Some citizens urge others to show opposition--else let the government continue its tyranny.
Many Venezuelans believe that there is no point in voting, because their government is just going to do what it wants anyway. I think this is a very sad perspective to have, and obviously a less than ideal situation. It is my opinion that a government should listen to and respect its citizens in order to prevent injustice.
Some Venezuelans believe the only way to achieve a just government is through revolution. Do you agree with this?
Venezuelans are losing trust in their government. Why is it important for governments to have their citizen’s trust?
In America, one thing we value is political participation. Why is political participation important as part of a democracy?
Do you think it is important for people to vote, even if a corrupt government may prevent a vote from meaning anything?
6 comments:
While I think a revolution would move Venezuela away from the tyrannical government it has become, I'm not sure if this is the best or most feasible option for them, considering Maduro's web of power and the difficulty the opposition is encountering in trying to protest and organize their efforts. However, I think that it is important for Venezuelans to continue voting, even if their votes don't make a significant difference, as they are at least making a statement and continuing to show their opinions. This relates to the importance of political participation, which is important because it allows the people to participate in the running of the government, as the people should in a democracy. It is important for governments to have their citizens' trust because it allows for a peacefully run country and allows the government to work toward improving conditions.
I would say that Venezuelans may have to resort to a revolution, based on the condition of their government and their sentiments. Although Maduro is very powerful and has many people on his side, allowing a dictatorship to run a country is never a good idea, and in history, dictatorships or similar governments have been successfully overthrown, so the action is not entirely hopeless. And governments having the trust of their people is extremely important because it would prevent thoughts like these of revolutions and mutinies. In a democracy, political participation allows for the government to truly represent its people and be notified of what the people want. And lastly, when voting barely even counts, it is hard to have the incentive to vote, and people might start to view voting as a waste of time, which I believe is totally justified. For this reason, voting does not have to be the first priority of the people; fixing the problem of a corrupt government should be.
I agree with previous commenters in that something has to be done to prevent Venezuela's spiraling descent into dictatorship, but I'm far less sure on what that something is. The citizens of Venezuela are right in that voting in a rigged election is pointless, and that more substantive action needs to be taken, in order to limit future strife. I want to reiterate that, even though I do not believe that Maduro is in right whatsoever in this situation, we cannot oversimplify Venezuela's current debacle by chalking up all issues to a corrupt, self serving, borderline dictatorial government. To be blunt, Venezuela's economic system was reliant on the country's massive oil revenues, and when the price of oil decreased, causing this revenue to drastically decrease, the economy took a huge hit and inflation skyrocketed. This primary issue compounded with other economic faults to create the situation of today. If an internal revolution, international pressure, or some combination of both "fixes" the corrupt government, they still have this weighty economic issue to deal with; a whatever ends up happening, the solution needs to prioritize longevity.
Mr. Swiecki brings up a good point about Venezuela's economy. I can't think of an economy that has flourished under a dictator-like leader. North Korea is a good current example of this. If the current leader was overthrown and the government were reformed to allow for more economic freedom, I'm sure the living conditions would increase in a financial sense. Not to mention, the people would have some influence over government decisions and more freedom, depending on how things fall into place after a supposed overthrow. I don't know enough about the current conditions to be able to tell whether overthrowing the government is a good decision or not. If there are ways of avoiding the loss of life, I would obviously go down that avenue. Why is trust in government important? So that the government can be effective; it isn't easy to govern people who aren't willing to participate, and it probably means you're doing something wrong as a government too.
Even if the vote doesn't actually create much change, the people should still express their opinions in the hopes of creating change. Revolution often causes chaos and rarely has a positive outcome, and therefore the public should find structured ways of being more politically engaged. Even in a corrupt government, completely losing hope has zero change of making a difference. If the public is more informed and engaged small positive changes are likely to occur.
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