Wednesday, March 06, 2013

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.



5 comments:

Defensores de Democracia 11:12 AM  


VIDEO with explanations in English of what is going on : "Reporter attacked by crowds in Venezuela as she covers President Hugo Chavez's death" - How do you like attacks on the Free Press and the Right of Speech ??



Published on Mar 6, 2013

A reporter and cameraman are attacked by crowds in Caracas, Venezuela as they cover Journalists working for Colombian television have been attacked by crowds in Caracas, Venezuela, as they covered the death of President Hugo Chavez.

Reporter Carmen Andrea Rengifo and her cameraman, Samuel Sotomayor, were attacked outside a military hospital in the capital by a crowd of Chavez supporters, who thought they worked for one of the country's opposition TV channels.

Dramatic images filmed by Sotomayor at the scene of the attack showed the pair being beaten and chased by the crowd, before managing to escape on a motorcycle.

Rengifo was injured in the attack, with the video showing blood streaming down her head as she tries to flee from the crowd.



Reporter attacked by crowds in Venezuela as she covers President Hugo Chavez's death


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2wrMWRiyZQ

Justin Delacour 1:14 PM  

My bets would be on Smilde's contrasting take: "We should not assume that ALBA will suddenly disappear. Maduro was Chávez’s Foreign Minister for six years and was one of the architects of ALBA. Thus Chávez’s legacy is also his legacy and he will likely continue to support it."

Defensores de Democracia 11:35 AM  



POLITICO.COM : Hugo Chavez : "Don’t let yourselves be poisoned by those wandering Jews" - "He funded guerrillas warring against the democratically elected government of Colombia." - "He propped up the Castro regime with Venezuela’s ample oil."

Excerpts :

"He praised every heinous dictator around the planet as a brother-in-arms."

Human Rights Watch : "The accumulation of power in the executive and the erosion of human rights protections have allowed the Chávez government to intimidate, censor, and prosecute critics and perceived opponents in a wide range of cases involving the judiciary, the media, and civil society."


POLITICO.COM
Hugo Chávez's cheering section
By RICH LOWRY
March 6, 2013


http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/hugo-chavezs-cheering-section-88536.html?hp=l4


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Defensores de Democracia 5:31 PM  

All signs point out to a more Brutal, Despotic and Dictatorial Venezuela. Forget the evolution towards democracy. They are increasing the rigidity of speech, the attacks against the enemies : Imperialism, "Fascists", the Rich, "bad neighbors"



Those in power in Venezuela are in a Fascist Extravaganza that reminds us of Hitler in Nuremberg, or the Funerals of Lenin, Stalin or Francisco Franco, with millions of mourners in each of those acts of fanaticism. Flags, Uniforms, Banners, Swords, Colors of Fanaticism, etc ... ( fascist control of the populace and the rabble )


Some of the presidents that went to the Funeral of Chavez are just salesmen and businessmen trying to sell exports to the oil rich nation of Venezuela. Nothing else. Democracy and Freedom take a back seat.


The president of Colombia throws millions of insults and threats of Chavez and Maduro to the toilet and flushes them. Chavez threatened with war many times against the "sister" nation. But the Colombian Businessmen are "Merchant Princes" who do not care about Democracy, Freedom, etc .. in Venezuela and worry about them only in their own country.


Expect many threats and insults against the USA, that will help Maduro to consolidate power. Maduro is a barbarian, an ignorant without any education, he was a truck driver. Similar to Chavez that was an ignorant "militarote" ( despicable word for the barracks ).



Expect a more "Stalinist" Venezuela.

We can see the funerals of Lenin, Stalin and Francisco Franco in YouTube.com

Very illustrating !


Vicente Duque

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LFC 8:30 PM  

Chavez was not Stalin. One need not know much about Venezuela to know that much.

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