Maduro has been one of the most controversial leaders in Venezuela’s history given that he has carried on Chavez’s terrible economic policies that has caused a great nation that used to be a superpower in Latin America to be in crisis both economically and politically. Maduro, like many other leaders in Latin America that are on the outs, is the symbol of an ending of an era that is too far to the left in Latin America. What Maduro stood for as a leader carried on the ideals of Chavez and Guevara in Cuba. These ideals are what the leaders of that era stood for in that the people needed to be given “fish” from the state rather than to be taught “to fish” themselves. This principle was the very bread and butter of socialism and Maduro had prescribed to this as Venezuela’s puppet president as Chavez slowly passed away. What is important to note is that Maduro did not anticipate the reduction in the cost of oil, which is Venezuela’s primary objective of income, (“The Endgame in Venezuela,” 2016). What this did, was made the government no longer be able to afford the generous social programs that they were providing to their citizens. Additionally, Venezuela began to tighten their economy with harsh currency controls, which naturally caused their foreign direct investment and elite to escape to tax safe havens in Panama, (Tully, Shawn, 2016). This caused Venezuela to have a black market that is greatly overvalued compared to their official rate, (Tully, Shawn, 2016). To date, Venezuela now has four currency rates and is in economic crisis. Subsequently, Maduro is on the outs and Venezuelans can’t wait to see him leave and to have their country restored by eliminating the currency controls, crime on the streets, and allow foreign direct investment to flourish in their country as it once did.
Pertaining to Hermann’s principles that govern a leader’s philosophy, Maduro really did not have an ideal of his own. He was a Chavista that followed in the footsteps of his unfortunate creator, Hugo Chavez. According to Hermann, a leader is influenced by the concepts of: beliefs, motives, decision style, and impersonal style, (Hermann, Margaret, 1980). What is ironic about Maduro as a leader is that he was not a Nelson Mandela or a Gandhi, he was a mere imbecile that they allowed to go to office that sat their as a figurehead of a dying ideology.
That being said, Maduro was a leader based on his beliefs of following Chavez’s ideology to be quite far to the left. Venezuela was greatly known for their plethora of social programs such as CADIVI where any Venezuelan had their tuition paid in full studying abroad for any degree that was not available in Venezuela. Additionally, Maduro supported a certain amount in dollars for each and every Venezuelan to have in order to travel abroad. As a result of fruitless programs such as these, Venezuela had a great deal of debt that their abundance in natural resources such as oil could no longer support once their cost per barrel of oil reduced a great deal internationally.
Maduro’s motives were simple. His objectives were to keep the Venezuelans who desired foreign direct investment silent in order to maintain Chavez’s regime. Chavez thrived based on being charismatic and “the savior” of the middle and lower classes that had previously been eclipsed in Venezuela by the elite. Venezuela to date is still very classist, but Chavez promised these poorer people food and resources, which is how he initially gained their overall support and took advantage regarding their lack of education. Maduro continued this model by exploiting the lack of education and resources of the poor by censoring educational opportunities and news outlets so that these people were isolated and continued to support their ideology. What is ironic about Maduro’s motives is that they completely backfired because the people now are tired of the horrific crime and lack of basic resources that are available to citizens regardless of their class. Some extreme examples are: there is a quota on drugs such as Advil due to the lack of availability, people cannot even get adult diapers for the elderly, and toilet paper is now considered to be a luxury item. Maduro has known for some time that his regime has been crumbling; however, his motives are what drove him to keep his puppet seat in office and allow his country to further crumble into disgrace.
Relating to Maduro’s decision style, his inadequate voice was silenced when the opposition party won their seat in office. As a result, the opposition has been dismantling Maduro’s power as quickly as possible and it will not be surprising to see him exit the presidency very soon because the Venezuelan people are exhausted from his and Chavez’s failures. What was once truly a splendid country has been destroyed through their poor fiscal planning and false distribution of wealth to the middle and poorer classes. Thus, fortunately, it appears that Maduro’s decision style is now, finally, coming to a close.
Regarding Maduro’s interpersonal style, he is different than your typical leader because he literally was a puppet to keep a dying president’s ideology going. Thus, he doesn’t have the charisma that inspires a nation to implement change as we have seen with a leader such as Nelson Mandela. Maduro simply doesn’t have that way of being because he isn’t a leader, he is just a figurehead to a crumbling empire. Thus, it will be fascinating to see where Venezuela goes from here because I have every faith that she can come back to greatness because she has some of the most impressive riches in Latin America and has every capability of being great once more. The key is going to be removing Maduro and rebuilding her from the ground up by opening the markets and encouraging foreign direct investment and free flow of currency changes.
Works Cited
Hermann, Margaret. “Explaining Foreign Policy Behavior Using the Personal Characteristics of Political Leaders.” International Studies Quarterly. 1980. Web. 01 April 2012.
“The Endgame in Venezuela.” The Economist. 6 February 2016. 19 April 2016.
Tully, Shawn. “Venezuela’s Desperate Times Give Hope to President Maduro’s Opposition.” Fortune. 18 February 2016. Web. 19 April 2016.
