As Venezuela moves toward promised national elections on July 28, my heart is with the hopes of Venezuelans for a miracle that will translate their courageous act of voting, into a restoration of democracy. Everything I have seen unfold in the country over the past 25 years of my career in government and the private sector following Venezuela leads me to expect the worst. Chavismo has proven time and time again both its willingness and ability to exploit control of the institutions of the state, repression, corruption, and subterfuge, to consolidate and maintain power, despite the opposition’s hopes that the Constitution, laws, and institutions that the country has on paper, will give them a dependable arena in which to fight. To use a science fiction analogy, fighting against a Chavismo which controls all of the institutions and manipulates the rules to its advantage, is like trying to fight the Matrix without Neo (Keanu Reeves).