1) the results of the venezuelan election are not surprising. the chavistas still dominate the mass of lower class voters and workers, while the opposition is mostly limited to a much smaller upper middle class. you have to remember that a country like venezuela has a very large impoverished class and a very small middle class. but, the upper middle class is able to make itself seem more influential than it is because it has so much more access to capital.

2) rhetoric aside, venezuela's primary market - both for oil and agriculture - remains the united states. if america truly wanted maduro gone, it would shut down imports for a few weeks and let the government tear itself apart from the inside.

3) the conclusion - as i have pointed out repeatedly - is that maduro is not quite what he seems to be. the reality is that the american bogeyman is a good distraction to allow for continued resource extraction, nearly solely to america's benefit.