Five Lessons Iranian Protesters Should Take from Venezuela's Failed 2017 Movement
NicolÃ¡s Maduro
Little evidence has surfaced yet that the protests are organized or have spawned any opposition leaders. It is too early to tell how long the protesters can keep the pressure on the regime to change. In their endeavors  however  it is precisely to Latin America that Iranian protesters should look for guidance â in Iranâs ally Venezuela  where nearly a year of daily protests did nothing to stop  socialist dictator NicolÃ¡s Maduro  from consolidating  his  power.
Where Venezuelaâs street protesters succeeded in attracting international attention  the governmentâs official opposition failed by adopting policies that enabled the regime. For years  the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD)  a Venezuelan opposition coalition led by socialists  attempted to engage in dialogue with the regime. Venezuela saw minimal protests throughout 2016 largely because the opposition leadership was too busy in âdialoguesâ with  Maduro  that resulted in no concrete changes in the country. It happened again last year  when  Maduro  called for a round of elections in which  he  decreed who could run for office and controlled the institutions counting the votes.
The protesters on the streets rejected  Maduroâs  mockery of democracy. The MUD participated  losing a number of member parties along the way. By November  the MUD had called for another round of talks with the government  and protests in the country were all but unheard of.
Venezuelaâs protesters only met half of this challenge. As noted above  the opposition appeared united only in their rejection of  Maduro . Some leaders of the opposition were socialists and demanded only that elections occur â without specifying that they be free and fair. Others identified the socialist system as the problem and have demanded a full overhaul of Venezuelaâs institutions to create a free and democratic capitalist state. Yet more leaders demanded individual fixes  like the liberation of political prisoners or humanitarian aid for the hungry. Outside of âno more  Maduro  â the oppositionâs message was  and  sadly  continues to be  a mess.
Little evidence has surfaced yet that the protests are organized or have spawned any opposition leaders. It is too early to tell how long the protesters can keep the pressure on the regime to change. In their endeavors  however  it is precisely to Latin America that Iranian protesters should look for guidance â in Iranâs ally Venezuela  where nearly a year of daily protests did nothing to stop  socialist dictator  [TGT]   from consolidating  his  power.
Where Venezuelaâs street protesters succeeded in attracting international attention  the governmentâs official opposition failed by adopting policies that enabled the regime. For years  the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD)  a Venezuelan opposition coalition led by socialists  attempted to engage in dialogue with the regime. Venezuela saw minimal protests throughout 2016 largely because the opposition leadership was too busy in âdialoguesâ with  Maduro  that resulted in no concrete changes in the country. It happened again last year  when  Maduro  called for a round of elections in which  he  decreed who could run for office and controlled the institutions counting the votes.
The protesters on the streets rejected  Maduroâs  mockery of democracy. The MUD participated  losing a number of member parties along the way. By November  the MUD had called for another round of talks with the government  and protests in the country were all but unheard of.
Venezuelaâs protesters only met half of this challenge. As noted above  the opposition appeared united only in their rejection of  Maduro . Some leaders of the opposition were socialists and demanded only that elections occur â without specifying that they be free and fair. Others identified the socialist system as the problem and have demanded a full overhaul of Venezuelaâs institutions to create a free and democratic capitalist state. Yet more leaders demanded individual fixes  like the liberation of political prisoners or humanitarian aid for the hungry. Outside of âno more  Maduro  â the oppositionâs message was  and  sadly  continues to be  a mess.