Venezuela's Future Won't Be Settled in the Streets

Sometimes it's the little things that mean the most. When Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, facing swelling protests against his own rule, sent congratulations to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Syria's independence day, it was a gesture his fellow tyrant surely appreciated.

So far Maduro has deployed only tear gas and (mostly) rubber bullets against protesters. Yet his recent decision to arm and mobilize a half-million-strong citizen militia to prevent a "coup" points to the risks of greater violence. As Venezuela's neighbors and the world punish its government for repression, Venezuela's opposition must come up with a realistic platform for achieving political and economic change.