Even Showers Are A Luxury in Venezuela Now

(Bloomberg) Patricia Laya Andrew Rosati and Daniel Cancel June 7 2019 9:41 AM On Thursday Juan Guaido woke up and doused himself with a bucket of water. It was his shower. Like millions of Venezuelans the man who dozens of countries recognize as the legitimate leader of his broken country cant rely on the taps to run. Its one of the things I hate most" the 35-year-old lawmaker said in an interview. Its a symbol of poverty and during much of my life I had to do it." And yet he was for the most part characteristically upbeat exuding that can-do spirit that his followers love and his detractors find naive as he talked about how Venezuela would have to tolerate much more suffering in order to topple Nicolas Maduros autocratic regime. Despite the pain he said the U.S. shouldnt ease up on the sanctions that are deepening the worst economic crisis in the countrys history. Its going to get worse" before things turn he warned. Ultimately he insisted the opposition movement rekindled after he became leader of the National Assembly in January would succeed. New elections could be held in six or nine months because the pressure simply wont let up on Maduros closest collaborators to break ranks he said.