quote:
By dawn perhaps 100 people were dead and Nicolás Maduro, the country’s authoritarian leader since 2013, had been seized by American special forces. Yet shock and fear quickly gave way to something else: happiness. According to exclusive polling for The Economist by Premise, a research firm based in Virginia, Venezuelans inside the country are pretty pleased with the dramatic turn of events, even if their vision for its future differs from that of Donald Trump.

quote:
Mr Maduro, who presided over torture and economic collapse and brazenly stole the presidential election in 2024, was deeply hated. Just 13% of respondents even mildly opposed his capture. Strikingly, more than half of them said their opinion of the United States had improved after the raid.

quote:
Before his capture, many feared they were stuck with Mr Maduro, possibly for decades. Now almost four in five of them think the political situation will be better in a year. Almost as many think their personal economic situation will have improved by then, too—the Venezuelan economy shrank by 70% under Mr Maduro’s rule.

quote:
Almost half support some form of American governance; just 18% oppose it. Views are more divided on who should control the oil industry. Just over a quarter of respondents thought the American government should be in charge, while about a third chose the Venezuelan government. Nearly 30% opted for private companies.

quote:
The majority of Venezuelans want a quick democratic transition. After María Corina Machado, the most popular opposition leader, was barred from running in the presidential election in July 2024 she backed Edmundo González, who won handsomely, only for Mr Maduro to declare himself the winner. More than a third of Venezuelans think Mr González should now take office, given he already has a democratic mandate. Two-thirds think there should be new elections. Of those 91% say they should happen within a year, with most wanting polls within just six months. That is far quicker than the several years that members of the Trump administration have publicly implied.

quote:
Venezuelans are also unhappy about Delcy Rodríguez, Mr Maduro’s vice-president, taking over—Mr Trump has openly backed her, at least for now. A piddling 10% agree, even somewhat, that she should complete Mr Maduro’s (stolen) term, which runs to 2031

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Posted by Y.A. Tittle

Member since Sep 2003

110117 posts

Posted on 1/17/26 at 8:39 am to Jbird

Is this what opening Pandora’s Box looks like?

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Posted by Jesterea

Member since Nov 2011

1203 posts

Posted on 1/17/26 at 8:44 am to Jbird

They’re optimistic, but they don’t realize they’re near the bottom of our administration’s concerns. If we cared about the health of the nation and not just what we from it, then we wouldn’t be backing the Madurai regime sans Maduro. We’d also be trying to get elections done soon.

Where’s all the Russian simps who crow about Zelenskyy needing to hold elections? Y’all think we should put it off for years in Venezuela?

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Posted by Out da box

Member since Feb 2018

837 posts

Posted on 1/17/26 at 8:49 am to Jbird

Delcy”s plea was to agree to dismantle cartel to avoid harsh punishment. She will be dealt with once country is stable.
Although not popular, that was safest way forward for a peaceful transition. A real election will occur

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Posted by diat150

Louisiana

Member since Jun 2005

47382 posts

Posted on 1/17/26 at 8:53 am to Out da box

Imo it’s best to leave delcy in charge for a while. The country would have plunged into civil war with any other route. Start building back up the supply chain and slowly start making changes to get back to some sort of democratic rule.

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Posted by Out da box

Member since Feb 2018

837 posts

Posted on 1/17/26 at 3:20 pm to diat150

I think were saying the same thing!

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