Venezuelan Opposition Unity

Jennifer Cyr has a post up at The Monkey Cage about Venezuela. I disagree on one point:

With Chávez around, these parties had achieved an organizational and institutional unity that might have been sufficient to topple him at the polling booth. Now it is likely that ideological differences, personal ambitions, and unsavory links with the past will become manifest, chipping away at the unity that had made Capriles an attractive alternative for many Venezuelans.

I agree that the opposition is united primarily against rather than for anything in particular. But the fact is that opposition groups have a strong incentive to remain united as long as they are out of power--it took them years to achieve it, and I don't see it disappearing that quickly. Whether or not the president is Chávez is immaterial. In fact, you could argue there is even more incentive without him because he seemed so invincible whereas Nicolás Maduro will be viewed as beatable in an election.

Contrary to her argument, I think Maduro will have a much bigger challenge with coalition unity over the longer term than Henrique Capriles will, precisely because he is president. Maduro will enjoy a honeymoon period, but he hasa to hold together his own disparate factions. Chavismo is not a bloc.