Former Faculty Fellow Amy Erica Smith published an article in Vox, "Venezuela’s Uprising Shows the Potential Dangers of a Civilian-Military Alliance", where she defines Venezuela's April 30th event as an uprising, and analyzes the country's future possibilities for democracy. Although she says that "Experts on coups note the event appeared poorly planned and executed", there is still hope for Venezuela.
"Political science research provides reasons for optimism that a future Venezuelan transition could lead to democratic elections. Though most coups lead to new authoritarian regimes, over the past decade, academics have examined what makes military coups occasionally propitious for democracy. Venezuela looks like it has many of the appropriate conditions: a discredited authoritarian regime; a history of citizen-led resistance against the regime; an alliance between democratic politicians and the military; a history of partisan electoral competition".