Spare a thought for Venezuela

Here in the UK it seems to be all doomy and gloomy with only a tiny prospect of a decent trade deal with the EU, putting renewed pressure on the economy, creating a nightmare scenario for any business that needs to send goods over the Channel, and years of tangled-up tarrifs and taxes and general stroppiness between this island and the rest of Europe. But in all the gloom over Brexit and the pandemic (despite the imminent vaccine distribution) perhaps one should spare a thought for the people of Venezuela who have woken up to a future with Nicolas Maduro in power for years to come. He held an election to add reinforced concrete to his presidential throne and won comprehensively. Not because the people of Venezuela wanted him in power but because the election was a rubber-stamping farce and the opposition who should have stood for Congress boycotted the process. So there was no one else for the people to vote for but Maduro. The country is now doomed to continuing failure and government corruption and a collapsed economy. Maduro is probably one of the worst-ever managers of a national economy in the history of the universe. His predecessor Hugo Chavez brought in a great revolution for the people and the people loved him for it even though it turned out that he was rubbish at sorting out the economy and money just vanished. Chavez was bad enough but when he died and Maduro took over it got progressively worse. It wasn't a revolution for anyone but himself and his family. Now after another farcical election Maduro will reign supreme. The country of Venezuela has a very dark future and I fear for the people who desperately want to see true democracy back in their lives and freedom to earn a proper living and lead a decent life. Under Maduro that isn't going to happen.