A time of truth for the Venezuelan opposition

According to BBC, those may be the real defenseless victims.

I think that today will mark a watershed in the ability of the Venezuelan opposition to keep a united front against the regime. Two things happened that force us to look dispassionately at what the hell is going on inside.

We will start by how the day started, with the regime dislodging a few tents set in some squares, a little bit like our own version of "Occupy Wall Street".  As expected the regime even "found" dollars inside those tents, as if anyone in Venezuela would be foolish enough to keep dollars with them in the street. Or does the top cop, Rodriguez Torres, ignore the crime curse over our country that he is absolutely unable/unwilling to stem? So, once again, there goes the credibility of the regime, though it is possible that some recreational drugs may have been present. Sue me Coloraddy!


I would like to note, by the way, that foreign press coverage of the day, which of course included violent protests and further repression and the death of a cop, shows that some media are not evolving at all whatsoever. For example, reading the BBC report, unsigned, you would almost feel sorry for Maduro et al, wondering about those poor cops so exposed to deadly fire. Then again the UK is in electoral mood and the BBC journos are probably rehearsing ways to support Labour. On the other hand at the NYT Neuman is making some progress and gets the right title, putting the focus where it belongs, on the 243 uncalled for arrests which certainly were enough provocation to send a trigger happy gun owner into paroxysm.  But I digress.

The protest, if the camping stations removal was not enough, benefited from gas on fire by a new postponement of Leopoldo Lopez hearing. After two months in jail, the guy still does not know exactly what he is charged for, what evidence is there of so heinous a crime that all judicial procedure are violated so he can remain in jail. But that, you do not read as much in the press, and not much from the MUD folks. But then again that brings us to the second item worth of notice today, someone in the MUD asking the US not to put sanctions on members of the regime accused of Human Rights violations.

The occasion came at a US Senate hearing where under secretary Roberta Jacobson was, well, not stellar.  Among an unwillingness by the US to commit to anything, she also blurted, refusing to give names, that some people inside the MUD asked her not to push for sanctions that this may wreck the dialogue between the MUD and the regime. Or something to that effect, I cannot find yet the exact wording or transcript, but the AP account is good enough for now. And there is also that video dubbed in Spanish where after minute 3:30 you hear that Senator Menendez is dubious of Jacobson.

The double agent Ramos Allup? Cozy with some
of the worst trash chavismo has to offer.

Now, I have absolutely no doubts that indeed there are people inside the MUD that are negotiating seriously with the regime, but not necessarily for the benefit of the opposition.  That this is true can be verified by the hurried and not quite coherent reply of Aveledo shortly after. Incoherent because even if he disagrees with the position I am sure he knows who did the betrayal. And he knew that he had to speak fast because editorials much worse than this one from the Post will start falling down his head.

Thus today a few things have been glaringly exposed:

1) the organized political opposition is not able to respond clearly to the aggression from the regime. Oh, sure, there are the supportive tweets, but it is also quite clear that some are only too happy to see those camps, those barricades disappear not for humanitarian reasons but because their own lack of control of the electoral opposition is made only too visible. That is why the MUD keeps repeating that the "students have their own agenda" as a way to abandon them to their fate, to avoid further internal division, to hide their inherent weakness and lack of creativity.

2) that Lopez judicial travesty did not create a reply from the MUD leaders besides the occasional supportive tweet make us remember that Lopez, and now Machado, seem to be pretty much abandoned to their fate. As if that would preserve the other members of the MUD from a similar fate down the road whenever the regime needs new enemies to justify its violence and repression. The fact of the matter is that the MUD has not attempted any significant support action. Correct me if I am wrong, if it goes beyond pious wishes and hashtags....

3) the unfortunate words of Jacobson confirm that indeed inside the MUD there are double agents and the MUD is unwilling, unable to confront them, to clear up the air. Why? Who finances the MUD that they can dictate such a double game that does not seem to match at all the Human Rights needs of the country? Are we to suspect that the MUD has become a mere pawn to be used in deciding within chavismo which side will win the final game?

4) for whatever despicable reasons of real politik, the unfortunate words of Jacobson also tell us that no one wants to intervene or deal with Venezuela, that from DC to BA all want stability in Venezuela even if it should be clear now that this is simply impossible as long as the Cuban masters insist on sucking dry our resources. In other words, from DC to Brasilia, the only care is to find ways to get Venezuela to pay its debts. Fuck its people if needed!

I do not know about you, but that list reads pretty much as the reasons why the MUD is doomed: waning credibility, waning support, waxing corrupt politicos. And they have only themselves to blame, from Capriles to Aveledo, who will pay the the price for these people that they have not been able to control or to lead. Nobody ever said that politics were fair.

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PS: to make sure you do not get dispirited, please read the opening statement of Moises Naim at the same hearing where Jacobson opened a Pandora box.  Naim is someone that understands the problem and has ideas on how to confront it. But is anyone listening?