Apr 5, 2018

Poll: Venezuelans lack food and medicine, and they blame Maduro

Dave Lawler

Polling data out today from the Atlantic Council offers a bleak portrait of the humanitarian crisis engulfing the country.

Data: Atlantic Council March 2018 Poll; Note: "Very bad/Bad/Regular to bad", "Very Good/Good/Regular to good", "Get much worse/Get Worse/Equally bad", and "Get much better/Get better/Equally good" responses combined; Chart: Axios Visuals

Breaking it down: Three-quarters of respondents say they’re eating fewer meals. Concerns over the availability of food and medicine are near-universal. 88% say life is worse than a year ago, while 73% expect it to be worse a year from now.

So who do Venezuelans blame? 54% say President Nicolas Maduro is to blame for the hyperinflation that is wreaking havoc on the economy. 50% say his leadership is “very bad,” while 0.4% say it’s very good (overall approval sits at 22%).

And yet Maduro has little fear of being voted out in May. Brookings fellow and Stanford research scholar Harold Trinkunas says the regime is even “betting they might not have to steal too many votes.” That’s because the opposition is fractured, and divided over whether to take part or hold a boycott.

Go deeper: What the future holds for Maduro and other strongman leaders.

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