Election year may prove worst yet in Venezuela

Significance

The government is facing increasingly bitter schisms within the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) as it goes into a presidential election year. The holiday period saw street protests from traditionally loyal constituencies amid intensifying food and medical shortages. November inflation reportedly reached 56.7%, with accumulated eleven-month inflation estimated at 1,370.0%.

Impacts

• There is little to unify the PSUV’s disparate constituencies, opening the prospect of intense conflict on the political left.
• Grassroots protests indicate dissatisfaction but not necessarily disaffection with the government.
• Despite a hyperinflationary spiral, no immediate change in economic policy is expected.