No One Defends Maduro

I've asked whether anyone will come to Nicolás Maduro's defense. An article in Counterpunch suggests no. The analysis asks whether Hugo Chávez would've done different, and the basic answer is that reliance on oil wasn't working, and that everything else is the fault of the United States. I figure this will become the main argument for Maduto's failures--yeah, maybe he could've done some things better, but the United States got in the way.

None of these opinion pieces ever mention Maduro's actual policy decisions, thus completely robbing Venezuela of any agency. As such, Maduro hardly even has the power to make decisions because the United States is omnipotent.