Will Venezuela become a new Cuba? Despite recent events, dont count on it

[Zorro]

In the aftermath of Venezuela’s fraudulent Oct. 15 regional elections, the conventional wisdom is that President Nicolás Maduro has closed all avenues to an electoral solution to the country’s crisis, and that Venezuela will become a new Cuba. It may happen, but there are a few things that suggest otherwise.

There are many similarities. Maduro is increasingly acting like an all-out dictator, a la Fidel Castro. Maduro’s most recent elections for 23 governorships were so fraudulent that they were denounced by the United States, the 28-member European Union, and Latin America’s biggest countries, including Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.

It sounds like a joke, but Maduro claims to have won 80 percent of the governorships in a clean election, despite the fact that virtually all polls show that 80 percent of Venezuelans want him to leave office.

In addition to using massive government resources to help his candidates, allowing widespread media censorship and refusing to allow credible international observers, Maduro invalidated more than 1 million opposition votes by preventing people in opposition strongholds from casting their ballots.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/andres-oppenheimer/article179824416.html

[GatoGordo]

1. Venezuela has a long and prolific history of military coups

Once the money runs out, even the Cuban moles in the VZ military will be looking for a scapegoat.

Maduro is just the pasty. He might be the one to take the Cuban bullet, but things won't change right away. Padrino, Cabello and Delcy have too many Cuban friends to let things deteriorate too far in the military. Nobody knows who to trust. That's what happens when over the last 17 years, your military promotes 4000+ generals trained in Cuba.