Against all odds, Nicolas Maduro has maintained a strong grip on power in Venezuela. This has come at great expense to the ordinary Venezuelan. This article by John Otis is published by NPR. Here is an exerpt:

A new cartoon on Venezuelan state TV portrays President Nicolás Maduro as a caped crusader who fights Yankee imperialism with an iron fist. It’s called Súper Bigote — “Super Mustache.”

The series celebrates Maduro’s staying power nearly three years after opponents were forecasting his imminent demise. Despite U.S. sanctions, the country’s worst economic crisis in history and dismal job-approval ratings, Maduro, who has been president since 2013, has actually tightened his grip on power.

That dominance extended to last month’s elections when pro-Maduro candidates swept races for governor and mayor. Noting that his Socialist Party has run the country for the past two decades, Maduro boasted in a Nov. 21 victory speech: “We are a major force in Venezuelan history.”

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