Editorial Board
Venezuela Abandons Any Claim to Democracy
To get President Maduro to change course, the country's neighbors must work together.
Where votes don't count.
Photographer: Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images
President Nicolas Maduro's bogus vote to rewrite Venezuela's constitution is an affront to the country's democratic government. To persuade him to change course, Venezuela's neighbors will have to forge an unprecedented common front.
Notwithstanding the regime's claims, the number of Venezuelans who voted for a new constitutional convention on Sunday was likely well under half the number who voted against it two weeks ago. In the day preceding the vote, some 15 people were killed. But more unrest won't deter the regime from dissolving the opposition-controlled legislature, cracking down further on protesters and booting internal dissenters such as its attorney general.