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Weekly Report - 24 July 2014 (WR-14-29)

VENEZUELA: Maduro’s three key tests

President Nicolás Maduro faced a political test, an economic test and a diplomatic test this week which will define his future. The political test was provided by the elections on 20 July for the five-day party congress of the ruling Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV) which begins on 26 July when Maduro hopes to be elected party president. The economic test consists of the measures being prepared by his government in the name of “economic revolution” which are expected to be outlined during the congress. The economy, however, will remain highly dependent on external credit sources - and this was the diplomatic test. Maduro entertained China’s President Xi Jinping in Caracas this week. If Xi was coming to inspect what there is to show for the vast sums of cash China has pumped into Venezuela, as several commentators speculated, Maduro passed this test, as Xi extended yet another credit line – for US$4bn.

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