The Chavez cult struggles to maintain Venezuela's dictatorship

...Despite daily invocations of his mentor, and control of the powerful party apparatus he inherited, Maduro is increasingly on his own in a fight against a destabilizing wave of anti-government protests fueled by the less-heralded aspects of Chavez’s legacy: rampant crime, 56 percent inflation and widespread shortages of staples from corn flour to toilet paper.

“Maduro has done everything within his power to use the Chavez cult against the economic crisis, but it’s a lopsided battle,” said Alberto Barrera Tyszka, author of a 2004 biography of Chavez. “Every day that goes by he’s less and less seen as Chavez’s heir.”