The "Como Sea," explained

Having given up on governing altogether, Maduro focuses on holding on to power, through whatever means necessary. Come December, even these might not be enough to ensure a win.

Nicolás Maduro’s speech about winning legislative elections como sea – doing whatever it takes – isn’t so much a rallying cry to his dwindling base. It’s more like an all out admission of guilt, and perhaps a tacit admission of defeat. To compensate for an unprecedented low in the polls thanks to a collapsed economy, the Chavista machine will use every trick in the book in hopes of demobilizing opposition votes instead.

In this week’s print issue, The Economist sums up all of the government’s dirty tactics thus far. From gerrymandering, to declaring a state of emergency in opposition districts, to banning candidacies and confusing voters, to refusing international observers and generating fear through propaganda and intimidation, Chavismo is pulling out all stops ahead of 6D.

All of them except for one, it seems: winning back popular support.

 

Emiliana Duarte

Emi is a cook, a lover of animals, politics, expletives, and Venezuela. She is the co-founder of Caracas Chronicles LLC and Managing Editor if the site until December 2017.