It never ends well when a group uses its hordes to take a properly elected assembly (reichstag, French revolution) pic.twitter.com/EadEBmJEvn— daniel duquenal (@danielduquenal) 23 de octubre de 2016
This is the tropics, this is a banana republic. What else could one expect but the picture above which should be making a few international front pages tonight.
The assault was planned as a mob scene. There is even an intercepted audio that may suggest active military involvement, instead of guaranteeing the security of a special Sunday National Assembly session. Whatever it was, it had no spontaneity whatsoever. It was a group coming from "colectivos" which are nothing more than a cross between S.S. and Cuban "comités de defensa de la revolución". The whole led by Caracas mayor, Jorge Rodriguez, who managed to look more the dissociated psychopath than ever. There is an actual doubt as to whether he was running the show. It is probable that at some level he realized that the regime did not need further discredit this week... Then again....
At any rate, eventually the National Assembly managed to vote a resolution and it is a a red line. Crossed by the regime, by the way. Using the article 333 of the constitution (the 350 for outright rebellion is reserved for soon enough, I suppose) the National Assembly has decided that Maduro has perpetrated a coup and thus the Assembly needs to do the following:
- Demand that international organizations take notice and apply the necessary sanctions
- That Maduro should be brought for trial in front of the Assembly for the constitution violations and his own questioned right to be president
- Renew all the powers that helped Maduro commit the coup, namely the electoral Board CNE and the constitutional court TSJ
- Demand that the army, once and for all, decides which side of the constitution they stand
So now the regime has either to close down the National Assembly, or Maduro needs to resign, or, as the Church has apparently suggested, everybody resigns and we vote on EVERY elected official.
My bet is on the first one.
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SIDE NOTES
1- For the records, even Venezuelan dictatorships did not dare to assault Congress the way colectivos did today. The last time something like that happened in Venezuela was on January 28 1848 when Monagas, an ELECTED constitutional president, decided to do without an opposition and sent a mob to Congress.
2- For some obscure reason I counted at least two rainbow flags in the mob. It is of course possible that the lumpen colectivos confuse such flag with the multicolored flag used by the Bolivian natives in their rallies and feasts (and own revolutions). But I think the gay theme applies. Now, besides the fact that these people do not represent me whatsoever, nor I am willing to bet the immense majority of gay people in Venezuela, I cannot fathom how can they, at this point, support the Chavez regime. Under that regime Venezuela has become a most backward place in our continent. Not only the 1999 did not write in the gay marriage but this one has been approved by many countries since while the regime sat on it. There is no real legislation against hate crimes. There is no rights for spouses (I can vouch for the difficulties that this causes with my partner disease). HIV medication has become scarce and new treatments available anywhere are not making it to Venezuela. And of course, there is constant homophobic language of the regime.
And yet, there was that guy waving the rainbow flag in a hallway of the National Assembly. Goes to tell you how easy it is to make idiotic through propaganda the defenseless poor lumpen, going beyond the Stockholm syndrome.
In today's assembly assault there was that supporter of regime that has refused gay marriage, does not pursue hate crimes, denies HIV drugs pic.twitter.com/xN0W0pp0q1— daniel duquenal (@danielduquenal) 23 de octubre de 2016
PS: looking closely at the flags they do not ring quite like the rainbow flag. There may have been the identification flag of a given colectivo?. I am floating this in case some body has information. At any rate, these are poorly executed flags and Venezuelan gay people should not allow idiots use our symbols for such objectives as killing democracy.
" Maduro should be brought for trial in front of the Assembly for the constitution violations"
ReplyDeleteThis is the big violation. Start with Maduro's fraudulent election 3 years ago- he should not have been acting president before the election. Move on to his illegal appointments to the TSJ, etc etc.
I see a fight looming between the AN and the TSJ. Who has the power to decide what is right and what is wrong. Maduro may just step aside and let the TSJ fight for him.
It's been a while since I dropped by, since I have so much less free time, than I used to, but I see that things are the same - that is, have continued on the same downward trajectory over the intervening years. Of the three possibilities you named, that does seem like the only one that could possibly meet with approval from the other authorities.
ReplyDeleteBut it does seem that the government can no longer afford new red shirts for each protest. So it's not just the overall economy that is crumbling.
Fuerza, Daniel.
AIO
Why wouldn't the regime just ignore the NA by repeating nothing it does is valid since court ruled this when bringing on the 3 assembly members that the regime cheated out of the assembly. Keep pretending they want dialogue and that all this is the right wing working with USA. Likely arrest the ring leaders for some trumped up charges. No use eliminating the NA when it is already ruled to be powerless. They will squash small protests and arrest organizers. Only solution is all out rise up of the people. If someone called for it in mass the public would do it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say such stuff the one that is in Venezuela is me and the one that would go to jail is me.
DeleteMussolini was shot and then hung upside down. Cromwell's body was taken out of his grave and then hung. People who died by defenestration (thrown out of a window) included King Alexander and Queen Draga of Serbia, the son of Deng Xiaoping, and the Italian anarchist Giuseppe Pinelli who was seen falling to his death from a fourth floor window of the Milan police station. Russian troops threw Frédéric Chopin's piano out the window of a second-story apartment. There are other presidential recall procedures: Kennedy was shot in his car while waving at the people. Salvador Allende died of self-inflicted wounds. But it would be a real show of civilised behaviour if Maduro was to allow a recall vote.
ReplyDeleteAntonio
I find it really interesting that the Chavistas (excluding Diosdado) still participate in the AN thereby giving it legitimacy.
ReplyDeleteThe latest on dialogue in Margarita is just so much a waste of time.
You can't dialogue with Chavistas.
IslandCanuck
Meanwhile General Vladimir Padrino López is showing his fangs.
ReplyDeleteThe real investigation should be: how many million$ are each of these notorious these thieves taking to the bank on a weekly basis.
ReplyDeleteMost of them deserve Prague, and decades in jail, for the atrocities they are responsible for. (dead children, no food, no medicine..)
Well, this is a start:
Deletehttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-25/u-s-said-to-be-closing-in-on-venezuelan-asset-seizures-charges
Also explains somethings, like why they cannot give up power, there is no where to go. This will likely get vicious before better.
Lazarus
Super interesting read... keep up the good work detailing the internal political conflicts in your part of the world.
ReplyDelete