It has been a good weekend for Maria Corina Machado, if you call notoriety good in times of crisis and repression. Suddenly she is top billing above Capriles in Maduro's paranoia, and she gets two major interviews, one in El Universal but one also in La Nacion of Argentina. And she got two top journalists for that, Roberto Giusti and Hugo Alconada respectively, this last one having become an expert on Venezuelan and Argentinean corruption since the Antonini case of the 800K bucks in a suitcase.Of course, MCM has never been too far away from the front pages, miscellaneously having her nose broken in the Venezuelan National Assembly while more serious parliaments go out of their way to receive her with all the respect she deserves. Yet we must be surprised that Maduro went out of his way this weekend to suggest that she is the one chosen by the US to replace him by leading an upcoming transition.
The words of Maduro have, of course, no credibility on that matter. After all, if we were to take his words at face value, if his words were to verify in real life he would have probably been killed long ago in one of the multiple attempts against his life. But unfortunately for him, the fact of the matter is that there has been NO SERIOUS case against his life that could be sustained in court of justice. And each time Maduro goes yet deeper in ridicule.
No, we must search elsewhere the reasons why Maduro suddenly brings her to the front line.
"Ustedes saben que hay un cambio de línea en Washington, porque creen que pueden nombrar presidentes en Venezuela. Ahora han ungido a una dama, y la están preparando. Miembro honorífica de un apellido de 200 años de alcurnia. Ahora ella está ungida del poder y le han dicho prepara tu imagen, debes ser moderada, ahora debes vestirte de rojo y parecer chavista,..."You know that there is a change of line in Washington, because they think that they can name presidents in Venezuela. Now they have anointed a lady, and they are preparing her. Honorific member of a last name that has 200 years of prestige [Mayfloweresque?]. Now she is anointed by power and they told her to preapre her image, you need to be moderate, you need to dress in red and look like a chavista....Of course, this is absolutely preposterous and quite frankly idiotic, oriented to the lumpen chavismo that Maduro has more and more trouble to stir, emote, motivate. Besides the obvious, to try to divide the opposition by questioning the leadership of Capriles there is something else. In a time of crisis, when people are getting desperate, even among some sections of the armed forces, strong language like the one held all along by MCM may start having some effect. Capriles soft chavista light approach did not work in 2012. His rising his tone a notch worked better in 2013. But Capriles has remained the same since and there is a hunger for sterner sentences which MCM provides. Heck, she evens stirs nationalism by accusing Maduro to give up Venezuelan territory to Guyana, something that cannot fail to be noticed by an uncomfortable military forced by Cubans interests to put Cuban policies above Venezuelan national interests. Yes, they are paid to accept that loss but still...... At any rate, whether her words had an effect, the Venezuelan navy took in custody this week a boat working for Guyana.
The problem for Maduro is very basic: he has neither the education, the formation, the competence, the charisma to be a president of Venezuela and the contrast against some of the most, best articulated politicians in the country is starting to be noticed. Certainly people like myself have been monitoring with keen interest people like Leopoldo Lopez of MCM above Capriles and other. But today it is quite possible that the language of Lopez and MCM is reaching deeper than what many would like......... Maduro is thus, in his increased repressive alienation, forced to deal with more than Capriles and preemptively takes on MCM, the more so as she promises to be a top speaker at the National Assembly debate on the enabling law.
And yet MCM is simply repeating what she has said for years now. She is clear in her mind and her interviews cited at the start really do not bring anything new for those who follow. The novelty is, for example in the Argentine interview, that she looks down on Brasil, reflecting the general disappointment in Brasil and outside with Dilma Roussef. But what she is more direct than ever is her categorical statement that Maduro's tenure should be numbered in months, because not only of the crisis but because his incurable illegitimacy does not allow him to tackle the crisis, amen of his personal flaws. And that of course, is nightmare material for Maduro.
This could just be the foreshadowing for lifting her parliamentary immunity, whether or not the "99th Deputy" has been found and compromised.
ReplyDeleteIt would not surprise me that they would start to create a "public opinion matrix" against her in order to later go on the offensive with her as they tried with Mardo.
Roberto N
El Pueblo, both Chavista and opposition, hear MCM and her consistent calls for reform. The high Chavistas in the AN plus Maduro and others lie and have shown an unwillingness to enact needed reform. Surely, blocking MCM from the AN would quicken Maduro's downfall.
ReplyDeleteMCM has more guts than most men.. I admire her, and she at least states clearly her positions, and with a sense of purpose... Would the Maduro goons arrest her, or worse? I dunno- maybe they will.. because they have come close to it in similar situations before... I do not see any big changes on the horizon, I see Maduro slugging it out in his own way, using the power he has- military and $ to keep his position.. the people really are not yet so upset- high inflation, no food on the stores, crime still high, yet no big crowds in the streets protesting. It is amazing... but true..
ReplyDeleteIt would seem that by the time people realize what is going on, it is often too late. Firepigette
ReplyDeleteSurely it is all about dividing the opposition, making Capriles suspicious of MCM?
ReplyDeleteI agree with your projection, Daniel. MCM's star is rising (while LL's, well, I'm not so sure, after his veiled call, a few months ago, to go out to the street and fight, so easy if not irresponsible to say.) What I'm almost very sure about is that Milquetoast Capriles has disappointed in the intervening months.
ReplyDeleteThis is where the MUD cauldron shines brilliantly, Aveledo as schoolmaster of promising politicians, only one making the grade at any critical junction, by fair means. I suspect those are the rules of the game, subscribed to by all "students", thereby limiting any backstabbing or suspicions by other insiders.
P.S. I especially love MCM's directness, while she knows how to tread on the knife's edge. She has vastly improved over her ill-thought-out candidature, last year. And her broken-nose incident may have added to her assets, the principal ones being her well-stated ideas and canny ability to be picked up by journos. She's tipping as a force to be reckoned with.
ReplyDeleteAll very well having Machado emerging as a rising star but she missed the bus. So she challenged Chavez, got in to a bar fight in parliament(!), says what she thinks, has the cojones and so on but the sad reality is it's all too late.
ReplyDeleteWell 8th December is the last opportunity but pot banging Capriles will be the man in charge, or at least the face of the opposition at that time. And if the elections are cancelled or the cne declares Maduro the overwhelming winner it would take millions of Machados to make a worthy challenge.
Terribly sad but to me Machado only represents the generation which failed to address Venezuelas's future stability. They failed then and she will fail now.
I would not be so quick in calling a politician failed and done with because s/he lost a primary. There are a lot of "failures" that had to try more than once or twice or thrice... Reagan, Churchill, Mitterand, Brandt, Caldera, Chirac, Rajoy, etc....
DeletePS: as for a failed generation, I would be also cautious about lambasting them. They are dealing with a dictatorship, not a democracy. For a while it seemed that no one thought that the Soviet Union would fall.......... How many generations did it take?
DeleteMCM, I believe, has (near) future promise. She is part of the MUD apprenticeship program, which had been needed to develop future politicians, where there is a dearth of seasoned political opponents that have the all-encompassing strength to galvanize a country against the current regime. It may take a few years yet ... and it may not be MCM, but another star that comes out of the wings (hopefully not from the left).
DeleteMaduro is being told what to do and say, and the puppeteers are nervous. This Washington link is laying the ground work for the finger pointing that will take place after maduro is stricken with lead poisoning. Maduro is a bigger failure than anyone could have thought possible, but the chavista base has to be maintained or risk losing control. Neither dissension with an overthrow from within, or an opposition led takeover is acceptable for the hand appointed chavez successor, and the "revolution" must continue. Maduro will have to go out as a martyr, and either the opposition or the evil empire will be blamed. A much needed distration away from the economic collapse is provided while unifying the chavista base. It is likely that cabello, ramirez, or chavez's son in law will assume control, and it will buy some time until they can come up with a better plan.
ReplyDeleteMaduro has a right to be nervous, but from what grassy knoll will the bullet come from?
concerned
Just change MCM to Maduro--
ReplyDeleteCuba annointed Maduro the president of Venezuela because they can name presidents in Venezuela.
The young Maduro was indoctrinated into Castro's communism while in Cuba. He is there to assist in the ongoing takeover of Venezuela by Cubans. They prepared his image to be moderate and to dress in red and look like a Chavista. Maduro's goal is to spread the horrors and poverty of communism throughout Venezuela. etc.
Why is it that every false criticism of the opposition from Maduro actually applies to Maduro himself?
Esta mujer siempre ha sido valerosa y 100 veces mas educada que el masburro de maduro.
ReplyDeleteActually I agree with ALL the comments above, they are good thoughts and possibilities.. But the more I think about it, I believe Maduro shined the light on MCM- to split the votes and support in the coming elections Dec 12. Now more than ever the opposition must stay cohesive. There is room for Caprilles, LCL, MCM and more, they must keep a UNIFIED message and coordinate a campaign for winning as a group, not just individuals.. Unfortunately, I do not see the oppo's gaining much ground, they have to contend with censored media, limited funds, and the Chavistas will be pouring out the $, telephones, freebies in November to "Hedge" the elections one more time. I believe it will be more of same for quite a while... hey- which would YOU want, a president who is a bobo, but hands out refrigerators, jobs and the like? or an educated president, who wants to treat each indivudual fairly and responsibly? guess who wins?
ReplyDeleteWho has forgotten her speech to Chavez himself? She makes me proud of being a woman. More guts than many around. My deep admiration.
ReplyDeleteIt is very simple, Venezuela as a country no longer exist. Its vast oil reserves is now the property of the Chinese government. Its government is not a Venezuelan government but a Cuban government. The Chinese get oil from Venezuela a the rate of 4 USD a barrel. The Cubans get it for free, making them exporters of crude. Other latin American countries with the blessing of the Cubans also get oil for free to support their own Cuban originate communist governments.The only country which pays the market rate is the USA. And that is because the Cuban government administration need the funding to administer their communist programs in Venezuela.
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say that Venezuela has a black cursing and that is oil. Other world leading economies in Latin American countries such as Chile and Colombia governments do not have such a cursing and they are blessed not to have this cursing.
This is simple to understand. God is a God of re-storation, no a God of distruction. God created the entire world with democracy and symmetry. Where there is God, there is evil. Where there is a government in power, there is opposition. Where there is communism, there is democracy and where there is females, there is males and so far. The planet earth has been destroyed not only one time but six different times. Did God did that.? Absolutely, NO. But God is very democratic God, allowed the creation of the Devil. Did the Devil destroy the planet earth 6 different times, the answer is a resounding, YES. The last time the planet was destroyed by evil forces, dynosours were roaming the earth, we have oceans of 600 feet tall trees all over the planet. The Devil originated earth cataclysm berried them deep into the earth, later turning them into crude oil by the process of billions of years of petrification. That is how the Devil originated black cursing of crude oil was born in Venezuela.
Will the current political-economical situation change in Venezuela. Not as long as this country has this black cursing, called crude oil.
Continuation: As explained before God is a God of reconstruction and great democracy. God could not have been God without a powerful opposition, the forces of Evil in the Devil. Which believe, or not through the evil force of super evil spirits infiltrated, penetrated, and possessed the minds, lives and spirits of men which if they have gone in the direction of God, they all will have been great men and women. For example, Germany-Hitler, Cuban Fildel Castro and his disciples all over center America and latin America, especially Fidel's disciple in Venezuela Hugo Chavez.
ReplyDeleteSo as you all can see the work of the Devil is everywhere, included but not limited to the Venezuelan Government.