You might have heard that there was a referendum in Venezuela this past weekend. You might have been pleasantly surprised. Hey! Democracy in a nation ruled by a socialist dictator! Sounds like progress.
It's not really. Socialist President Nicolas Maduro is set to stand for re-election next year. Given the horrendous state of things in the country, he would lose and lose badly. He knows this. So Maduro wants to rewrite the constitution so he can simply remain in power. The referendum was a strictly non-binding vote - mainly put on by the political opposition - that allowed the public to weigh in on the idea of Maduro rewriting the constitution.
Unsurprisingly, Venezuelans hate the idea:
