THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary - May 23, 2018 - Topic 2

Venezuela: After re-election

Venezuelan protesters failed last year to force President Nicolás Maduro to step down in the midst of an economic and humanitarian crisis. After his emphatic victory in Sunday’s presidential elections, they have to reconcile themselves to his rule for another six-year term. The embattled Mr. Maduro won the poll with 68% of the vote, and with a turnout of less than 50%, according to the election commission. Potential challengers to Mr. Maduro, Hugo Chávez’s protégé and successor, are either in detention or barred from the contest after they organised mass protests against his government, alleging brutal misrule and economic mismanagement. 

An umbrella coalition of opposition parties and activist groups, the Broad Front for a Free Venezuela, had called on the people to boycott what they said was as a sham exercise. Mr. Maduro’s closest rival, Henri Falcón, alleged fraud and demanded a fresh ballot. It is highly unlikely that demands for a re-poll will be countenanced by the Maduro regime. But it is clear that the shrinking democratic space has exerted a toll on the polity overall. The Venezuelan health system has all but collapsed. A Minister who expressed concern over the high incidence of certain diseases that were believed to have been eradicated was sacked promptly last year. The collapse of the medical system is particularly shocking, given the emphasis on health care in Chavez’s commodity-driven growth model. Inflation has hit 13,000%, and the economy is set to contract further. It is hard to believe that Venezuela, with the world’s largest proven oil reserves, was considered Latin America’s wealthiest country not so long ago.

Venezuelans have been leaving the country to escape shortages of rations and the rampant unrest. The UN estimates that each day 4,000 Venezuelans are making it across to Colombia. There is talk of a concerted international response to the Venezuelan crisis after Mr. Maduro’s re-election, especially further sanctions by the U.S. and possibly the European Union. But there are moral and practical limits to these measures against a country that is gripped by a systemic crisis — and the humanitarian costs of sanctions must not be ignored. In any case, Venezuela’s oil production has been falling steadily, and analysts do not expect that an embargo on its exports would have the desired impact. Mr. Maduro may be part of Venezuela’s problem. But he can be a big part of the solution as well. He could make a beginning by ceding democratic space for dissent both within and outside his party, and by rolling back the country’s confrontational foreign policy. Blaming the West alone for Venezuela’s economic crisis will not get him very far.

Vocabulary

Midst: the middle point or part.

Example: To be plopped in the river's midst , in a canoe, on a spectacular day, is tranquilizing.

Synonyms: middle, center, heart, core, midpoint, kernel, nub, depth

Reconcile: restore friendly relations between.

Example: She wanted to be reconciled with her father

Synonyms: settle one's differences, make one's peace, make up, kiss and make up

Protégé: a person who is guided and supported by an older and more experienced or influential person.

Example: He was an aide and protégé of the former Tennessee senator

Synonyms: student, pupil, trainee, apprentice, disciple, follower, discovery, find, ward

Detention: the action of detaining someone or the state of being detained in official custody, especially as a political prisoner.

Example: One of the effects of police detention is isolation from friends and family

Synonyms: custody, imprisonment, confinement, incarceration, internment

Alleged: claim or assert that someone has done something illegal or wrong, typically without proof that this is the case.

Example: He alleged that he had been assaulted

Synonyms: claim, assert, charge, accuse, declare, state, contend, argue

Countenance: admit as acceptable or possible.

Example: He was reluctant to countenance the use of force

Synonyms: tolerate, permit, allow, agree to, consent to, give one's blessing to

Shrink: become or make smaller in size or amount; contract or cause to contract.

Example: The workforce has shrunk to less than a thousand

Synonyms: get smaller, become/grow smaller, contract, diminish

Emphasis: special importance, value, or prominence given to something.

Example: They placed great emphasis on the individual's freedom

Synonyms: prominence, importance, significance, value, stress, weight, accent

Eradicate: destroy completely; put an end to.

Example: This disease has been eradicated from the world

Synonyms: eliminate, remove, obliterate, exterminate, destroy, annihilate

Ignore: refuse to take notice of or acknowledge; disregard intentionally.

Example: He ignored her outraged question

Synonyms: disregard, take no notice of, pay no attention to, pay no heed to

Crisis: a time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger.

Example: The current economic crisis

Synonyms: emergency, disaster, catastrophe, calamity, predicament

Confrontational: tending to deal with situations in an aggressive way; hostile or argumentative.

Example: He distanced himself from the confrontational approach adopted by his predecessor