A test of political maturity

IN DECREEING that the Carnival holiday would last an extra two days this year, Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, seemed to have hit on a clever way to damp down opposition protests that began four weeks ago. But the gambit failed. The protests have claimed 18 lives; scores have been injured and hundreds arrested. And still they rage.

As in 2002-04, when a similar protest wave threatened Hugo Chávez’s populist regime, Venezuela is split into two irreconcilable camps. Back then, an unpopular Chávez withstood vast demonstrations, a short-lived coup and prolonged strikes-cum-lockouts. Mr Maduro seems to think he can likewise ride out the storm. His security forces continue to beat up demonstrators and his officials denounce the opposition as “fascists”. His offers of dialogue smack of bad faith and the government shows no sign of entertaining the opposition’s demands.