On the Road in Venezuela

Anti-government demonstrations have swept across Venezuela in recent days as anger over the country's economic and political crisis has fuelled a wave of protests. Shortages of food and other basic supplies, and an inflation rate thought to have topped 1000%, have left more than eighty per cent of Venezuelans living in poverty. Opposition leaders have accused President Nicolas Maduro of mounting a coup against democracy after he tried, and failed to abolish the powers of the opposition-controlled National Assembly. The socialist President claims the United States and other western powers are colluding with domestic enemies of the socialist revolution. Though foreign journalists are routinely banned from the oil-rich country, Stephen Sackur presents a special edition of HARDtalk on the Road in Venezuela.