This picture was from the protests in Venezuela over the summer, before oil started declining. Chavez, and now Maduro, are not dictators. They get elected because they can buy off 51% of the vote, and the biggest tool they have is oil. Until now. The price of oil now is $60, but they need almost $200 to keep the promises to their base. It is impossible for them to raise the price of oil, all they can do now is cut social payments to their supporters. It is getting unlikely that they can pay off that 51% anymore.