At first sight, it appears that Venezuela has all the right conditions for a presidential interruption: dismal presidential approval ratings (low 20s), an intense economic crash (one of the world’s worst), indecent levels of corruption, and widespread street protests, which are picking up this year. Maduro has even lost the one shield that, according to political scientist Aníbal Pérez-Liñán, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh who has studied presidential interruptions in Latin America, can save presidents: control over the legislature.
But there are two major differences between Venezuela and the most recent cases of presidential interruptions. First, there is no possibility of impeachment. We can thank Hugo Chávez for that. Chávez’s first step in office was to redo Venezuela’s constitution. One of the provisions he jettisoned was impeachment. This was part of a major effort by Chávez to weaken the power of the legislature.
Instead of impeachment, Chávez created the possibility of a recall referendum. Initially, Venezuelans thought this new option would be a better mechanism to determine whether a president should step down prematurely; it was seen as more connected to the people rather than party elites, and thus, more democratic .... http://americasquarterly.org
