Venezuela's Democracy Index is Low, Classified as an Authoritarian

The United States (US) government arrested Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, on Saturday (January 3, 2026).

According to a press release from the US presidential office, The White House, Maduro's arrest is part of the US's efforts to combat drug trafficking.

"We are at war against drug trafficking organizations — not a war against Venezuela," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a press release on Sunday (January 4, 2026).

"Maduro is not just an indicted drug trafficker; he was an illegitimate president," Marco said.

In addition to being accused of involvement in drug trafficking, Nicolas Maduro's administration is deemed not to have brought prosperity to the Venezuelan people.

This assessment was, among others, conveyed by Shannon K. O'Neil, a researcher in Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

"Under his rule, the economy more than halved, the political space closed, and many Venezuelans voted with their feet," Shannon said in a report titled Will Maduro Hold on to Power in Venezuela's 2024 Election? (July 16, 2024).

"Nearly eight million people, or around a fifth of the population, have left the country since Maduro first took office in 2013," she continued.

Shannon also stated that during Maduro's administration, there has been an increase in arbitrary arrests, attacks, and threats against government critics in Venezuela.

"The government also pressures journalists into suppressing stories and arbitrarily arrests those investigating corruption," Shannon said.

This aligns with the Democracy Index report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). They assessed that in 2024, Venezuela's democracy index score was only 2.25 out of 10 points.

This score makes Venezuela the country with the second-worst democracy in Latin America, even falling into the authoritarian category.

According to the EIU report, countries ruled by authoritarian regimes generally restrict political pluralism, lack free and fair electoral systems, disregard or violate civil rights, suppress government criticism, and do not have independent judicial institutions.

The EIU compiles this democracy index from five major indicators: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation, and political culture.

The EIU then categorizes countries into four regime types based on their index scores:

• Score >8 to 10: full democracy
• Score >6 to 8: flawed democracy
• Score >4 to 6: hybrid regime
• Score 0 to 4: authoritarian regime