"Mejor
el diablo que conoces que el angelito desconocido”
(better the devil you know than the angel you don’t). At
one time, the majority of people felt it was safer to stick with
Maduro. They
were not confident that the opposition would reflect their interest
and the opposition's demands did not resonate with them. They kept
their distance from the protests at that time. Now the prevailing
attitude has become “Que
venga cualquier persona, queno sea él [Maduro]”
(Anyone
who isn’t Maduro).
When
it comes to Venezuela, the Socialist Party often adopts a plague on
both houses, denying the need to take one side or the other in its
polarised political situation. Venezuela’s
crisis
shows
no signs of abating, and will likely get worse. Everything points to
a scenario of more confrontation.
The
Right opposition and its American sponsors has shown its willingness
to sacrifice economic stability to achieve its goal of removing
Maduro from office. Its future policies are intent upon once more
reinforcing existing class and other inequalities of the pre-Chávez,
elite-led Venezuela of old. At least some support for Guaidó comes
from exhaustion, not enthusiasm. “No me causa emoción, ” (I’m
not excited about him.) He has elicited support, most likely due to
Maduro’s unpopularity. But no-one is convinced that Guaidó has the
interests of the people at heart. Waning support of the poor and
working-class for Maduro does not necessarily translate into
acceptance of Guaidó. Many remain skeptical of the opposition, with
good reason.
Protests
in past years against the government have tended to be centered in
wealthier neighborhoods, in January of this year, protests against
Maduro began to break out across a number of poor and working-class
neighborhoods, in places like Catia, La Vega, El Valle, and Petare.
The
first mainstream media, portrays the government as a dictatorial
regime engaged in ruthless repression of a heroic opposition
peacefully seeking a return to democratic rule. The Venezuelan
government portrays a democratically elected government besieged by a
violent, unhinged opposition that represents the wealthy elite and is
the tool of the US empire which will stop at nothing to achieve
regime change, regardless of the legality.
The
proposition that Venezuela is authoritarian has been repeated ad
nauseam and purposefully ignores the repeated times the country has
gone to the polls under Chavez and Maduro. Charges of electoral fraud
are baseless. While earlier claims of Venezuela’s authoritarianism
had little merit, Venezuela has been moving in an authoritarian
direction. There are many criticisms of the Maduro government’s
shortcomings and errors and they should not be off-limits nor should
their seriousness be played down, simply because Maduro is the target
of Washington's regime-change.There is also ample evidence the
opposition’s willingness to use violent and unconstitutional means
against the government
It
is not clear when Venezuela’s downward spiral will end. Socialists
cannot turn a blind eye to the slide into authoritarianism, not
because of a belief in representative democracy, but that
authoritarian rule is incompatible with building a socialist
movement. A general sentiment that has been growing is that neither
side can be trusted. Yoana, a teacher, echoed that
disillusionment. “There
is no one to believe in now... we want a change, but we don't know
with whom.”
Many Venezuelans see little difference between Maduro and Guaidó.
While
one is fighting to maintain his position of power, the other is
fighting to gain it. While there was very much to critique about
Chavez, for a number of years he accomplished something of a miracle
by giving the poor a central place in the public and political
discourse. The constitutionality or legality of either Guiadó’s or
Maduro’s claims will matter little if people view politics as an
elite arena where politicians fight for a small group of cronies.
The
Socialist Party stands in solidarity with the majority of Venezuelans
who are suffering under an incompetent, unaccountable government,
opposed by a vengeful, violent right-wing opposition. If anyone is
paying the price of this proxy-war, it is the people with their access to health services, food, and transportation restricted and limited
Adapted
from here
No comments:
Post a Comment