Venezuela isn't going to be another Ukraine

But that doesn't mean Nicolas Maduro will be able to stay in power...

Protestors in Venezuela
(Image credit: (AP Photo/Fernando Llano))

The similarities between the protests in Ukraine and Venezuela are pretty striking, from impromptu barricades to protesters wielding Molotov cocktails and stones fighting riot police armed with guns and tear gas. In both countries, protesters have died in the past week, though Venezuela's confirmed tally of 13 deaths is smaller than the 88 confirmed killed in the Kiev protests.

There are other similarities, too. Each protest has a jailed prominent opposition figure — former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in Ukraine, freed Saturday, and Venezuela's Leopoldo Lopez, arrested last week. And both of the targeted governments — deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Venezuela's Socialist government, now headed by President Nicolás Maduro — returned to power after being ousted in the mid-2000s following large protests. Neither Yanukovych or Maduro (or the late Hugo Chávez, Maduro's predecessor) is very popular in Washington.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.