THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- October 28, 2016- Topic 2
Venezuela has once again
been rocked by opposition-led protests after the process to requisition a
recall referendum to oust President Nicolas Maduro was obstructed last week.
Local courts in four states issued injunctions to halt the opposition’s
collection of signatures from 20 per cent of the registered voters, the second
phase of the constitutionally mandated recall process, after allegations that
there were irregularities in signatures collected in the first phase. The
Supreme Court upheld these injunctions, which means the referendum process in
the four states will have to be restarted. The timing of the referendum is
important. If the outcome were to go against Mr. Maduro before January 10,
2017, mid-term presidential elections will have to be held. If the referendum
is held later, a setback would only mean his replacement by the vice- president
till the scheduled elections in 2018. The besieged government has sought talks
with the opposition to be mediated by the Vatican, but Mr. Maduro has poor
approval ratings and his government has been unable to arrest a slide towards
further economic chaos. The opposition has more popular support than it did
during Hugo Chavez’s reign and, importantly, it controls the National Assembly.
Mr. Maduro does not wield
the kind of charismatic sway that Chavez, his mentor, did, but the problem goes
deeper than this. The continued fall in global petroleum prices under Mr. Maduro’s
watch has put the country’s social welfare model under severe strain. In
Chavez’s heyday, the government leveraged the country’s immense petroleum
reserves to fuel a welfare economy and spend heavily on subsidies. This model
resulted in several structural flaws in the economy — corruption in state
enterprises, heavy dependence on imported consumer goods due to meagre
incentives for production in a highly subsidised economy, and artificial price
and exchange controls that resulted in a black market for foreign currency and
persisting inflation. When oil prices were high and export revenues booming,
these flaws did not hurt the economy much. In fact, there was a reduction in
poverty levels, increase in literacy and better health indices over the last decade.
But falling oil prices exacerbated Venezuela’s economic problems, forcing the
government to print money to cover expenses in the face of rising debt, which
created a hyperinflationary cycle. Reforms that would stabilise the currency,
reduce subsidies and remove artificial price controls will be in order. But it
will be difficult for his regime to carry out these reforms without a political
compromise of some kind.
Vocabulary
Requisition: an official order laying claim to the use of property or materials.
Example: I had to make various requisitions for staff and accommodations
Synonyms: order, request, call, application, claim, demand
Oust: drive out or expel (someone) from a position or place.
Example: He ousted a long-term incumbent by only 500 votes
Synonyms: drive
out, expel, force out, throw out, remove
Injunction: an authoritative warning or order.
Example: Commands and injunctions , as I suggested, punctuate the text from the
outset.
Synonyms: order, ruling, directive, command, instruction, decree, edict
Besieged: surround (a place) with armed forces in order to capture it or force its
surrender; lay siege to.
Example: The guerrillas continued to besiege other major cities to the north
Synonyms: lay siege
to, beleaguer, blockade, surround, invest
Wield: hold and use (a weapon or tool).
Example: A masked raider wielding a handgun
Synonyms: brandish, flourish, wave, swing, use, employ, handle
Sway: a rhythmical movement from side to side.
Example: The easy sway of her hips
Synonyms: swing, roll, shake, oscillation, undulation
Strain: a force tending to pull or stretch something to an extreme or damaging
degree.
Example: The usual type of chair puts an enormous strain on the spine
Synonyms: tension, tightness, tautness
Leverage: the exertion of force by means of a lever or an object used in the manner
of a lever.
Example: My spade hit something solid that wouldn't respond to leverage
Synonyms: grip, purchase, hold, support, anchorage, force, strength
Meagre: (of something provided or available) lacking in quantity or quality.
Example: They were forced to supplement their meager earnings
Synonyms: inadequate, scanty, scant, paltry, limited, restricted, modest
Hyperinflation: monetary inflation occurring at a very high rate.
Example: If the central bank chooses to persevere in their inflation, hyperinflation
will be unleashed.