On the ground in Venezuela’s electoral standoff

In today’s The Big Story podcast, it’s been well over a week since Venezuelans votes, by all accounts, to send president Nicolás Maduro packing. He hasn’t left office, and has instead presented results that claim he, in fact, won the election. Hundreds of thousands of citizens have taken to the streets to demand he transfer power to opposition leader Edmundo González. Thousands of those protesters have been detained.

Mie Dahl is reporting in Caracas, Venezuela. “The government has intensified intimidation campaigns and crackdowns,” said Dahl. “So it’s created this atmosphere where people are afraid of joining protests.”

Democracy around the world is under threat, and nowhere is this clearer than in a country with a president that has become more authoritarian every year. So as the world watches, what happens now in Venezuela? What can the international community do to push for the peaceful transfer of power? And what happens if Maduro simply refuses?

You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify. You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.