To cope with such a bleak economic and geopolitical scenario, what does President Maduro have to offer? Well, he recently declared that he intends to bring "more and more socialism" to his country.
"More and more socialism"? This self-destructive dynamic is all the more devastating as President Maduro gives signs of sailing directionless.
One day he declares in a threatening tone that he knows the names of the hundreds of thousands of Chavistas who didn't vote for him -- thereby casting doubts on the confidentiality of Venezuela's voting system, while hinting that he could take retaliatory measures against the turncoats -- and a few days later his right-hand man Elías Jaua distributes credits to micro-entrepreneurs swearing that the government will not look at their political affiliations.
One day the government announces the introduction of a rationing chip, and the following day, noting the widespread discontent triggered by the announcement, Maduro balks and pretends he didn't approve of the measure.
One day Maduro declares that he holds overwhelming evidence that the "Empire" inoculated cancer to Hugo Chávez, and a few weeks later, desperate to secure international legitimacy, he requests Secretary of State John Kerry to grant an interview to Mr. Jaua, Venezuela's minister for foreign affairs.
Maduro's foreign policy has thus far been a staggering exercise in public vociferation against any foreign government that dares to call for a dialogue between government and opposition parties in Venezuela.
Mr. Maduro, who was handpicked as Hugo Chávez's successor, not for his shrewdness or competence but for his loyalty (some say, docility) toward Hugo Chávez and the Castro regime, has a point in common with the USSR's Chernenko: both will be remembered as having lacked charisma and intellectual breadth. This bodes ill for Maduro's capacity to fulfill effectively the mission bestowed on him after the death of his mentor.
In fact, each new stumble by the Venezuelan Chernenko is one more crack in the confidence and credibility that he may have enjoyed initially among the members of his own political movement.
The political base of Chavismo has been shrinking, as shown by the million votes lost between the presidential elections of October 2012 and those of April 2013.
Little wonder that Standard & Poor's has just downgraded Venezuela's sovereign debt, from B+ to B, pointing to worsening economic conditions amid political instability and infighting.
For all these reasons, what awaits Chavismo-led Venezuela doesn't look any brighter than the predicament of the Soviet Union when Konstantin Chernenko kept cruising in collapse mode.
