Venezuela has two presidents

Zack, Jenn, and Alex break down the political crisis in Venezuela — a country in economic free fall where two men are each claiming to be the sole legitimate president. They run through 20 years of Venezuelan history, explaining how a unique economic-political ideology called “Chavismo” brought us to this point, and discuss what could happen next now that the Trump administration has backed one of the men's claims. On Elsewhere, they wrap up the music series with a breakdown of an ingenious Nigerian riff on Childish Gambino’s “This Is America.” Zack doesn’t totally hate something Trump did, Alex goes down a YouTube rabbit hole, and Jenn tries to chart a middle ground for what could happen next in Venezuela. Alex wrote a very thorough explainer on all the goings-on in Venezuela. This piece will give you even more backstory on Hugo Chavez, and the team recommended this explainer on how things went so terribly wrong with the Venezuelan economy. For more on Maduro taking over after Chavez’s death in the controversial 2013 election, Jenn suggested this piece. We also have a piece diving into the elections from last year. And here are more examples of the effects that the economic downturn is having — from shortages of toilet paper to shortages of food. Zack said that most of the country is living under the poverty line as part of the worst depression anywhere on the planet. Here’s the analysis to back that claim. Maduro’s approval rating is very low. Alex cited a Wall Street Journal op-ed written by Vice President Mike Pence. Here it is in full. We also played part of this address from Pence. Trump mentioned a military option in Venezuela at one point. More on that here. Jenn recommended this explanation of George H.W. Bush’s rhetorical support for the 1991 Iraqi uprising and the subsequent massacre that occurred when the US ultimately decided not to intervene to stop the government crackdown. She also mentioned the uprising in Egypt. Zack suggested this book for anyone who wants to read more about the history of US interventions in Latin America and South America. Alex and Jenn talked about a small, unsuccessful military mutiny in Venezuela. Zack talked about Vincent Bevins’ Twitter thread wondering what the future holds for Venezuela. On Elsewhere, we heard Falz’s adaptation of “This is America,” “This is Nigeria.” NPR did a deep dive on the song and discussed it with Nigerian scholars.