Dr. Juan Barreto, Director for Venezuela and Latin America
“Bochinche, bochinche!” Francisco de Miranda cried out when a group of patriots handed him over to the Spanish in exchange for a peace armistice.
What must Uncle Sam, Venezuela’s guardian, think today when he sees a group of enraged protesters burning American flags and kicking the faces of Donald Trump and Marco Rubio?
What must Uncle Sam think when a group of opposition demonstrators marches to the Marriott Hotel, where dozens of Americans linked to the U.S. Embassy are staying—including John Barrett, the Chargé d’Affaires—to demand “elections now” in Venezuela?
Good grief. Uncle Sam, the guardian of both sides in Venezuela’s conflict, must be disappointed. It seems that none of those leading these factions can keep their own extremists under control. Both camps have slipped the leash.
The polarized have now polarized themselves. They take to the streets and no longer know whom to denounce. The right suddenly becomes anti-imperialist, while Mario Silva finds common ground with union leader Patines, who is aligned with María Corina Machado.
We are witnessing a landscape of internal contradictions within these polarized sectors: fractures, light blows, wounds that may heal—or perhaps the beginning of a deeper rupture.
It seems the earthquake was not only geological but political as well. The ground shifted beneath everyone.
The government is going through a difficult moment. It does not know how to handle the conflict because, until only a few days ago, doubt counted as betrayal. Now, not only have voices of doubt emerged from within its ranks, but some of them openly denounce the government itself.
Meanwhile, things are no better for María Corina Machado. After she met with the traditional parties of the Unitary Platform in Panama, a dissenting faction emerged under the leadership of Primero Justicia and Voluntad Popular.
Those groups have aligned themselves with Marco Rubio. They are meeting this weekend with Jorge Rodríguez in an attempt to reach an agreement in which, as María Corina Machado herself has acknowledged, she has neither been consulted nor included.
She once said, “With the help of our strategic allies, we will achieve change.”
Now she seems to be saying, “We will achieve it with our own hands.”
The government once said, “For now.”
Now it says, “In the meantime.”
