The New York Times and multiple other media sources are reporting that there are “clashes” going on in Caracas, Venezuela subsequent to the call by the leader of the opposition, Juan Guaidó, for a popular uprising against the Chavist Maduro government:
Anti-government protesters and law enforcement officers clashed in Caracas on Tuesday after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó appeared alongside soldiers at a military base and called for the population to rise up against the president.
“Today, brave soldiers, brave patriots, brave men attached to the Constitution have followed our call,†Mr. Guaidó said in a video posted on social media, speaking from Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base, a military airport in Caracas known as La Carlota, in a direct challenge to the government.
He has called before for the military to rise up against the government of President Nicolás Maduro, but doing so flanked by men in uniform, at a base in the heart of the capital, was a new step. With few exceptions, the military has so far protected Mr. Maduro.
Mr. Guaidó claimed that “the definitive end of the usurpation starts today,†but it was not clear how many civilians or soldiers would heed him.
I have no particular fondness for the Maduro government. I do not believe it is good for the Venezuelan people and is rather obviously corrupt. However, I also suspect that the U. S. media do not give us an accurate picture of how much support that government has in Venezuela, particularly among the poor.
We may be learning that right now.
I do not trust the reporting of any US media. Right now Tucker Carlson has had two people on arguing for US military intervention in Venezuela. To his credit, he is skeptical. Considering our history of failed interventions going back to Viet Nam, I hope we stay out of it.
We need to stay out, although I doubt we have, given the unexplained power outages, but the out flux of people tells the whole story. Things are bad, and we’ll need a Marshall plan of sorts if the regime collapses.
A hard sell in this congress, but a good investment in the future.
As I think Dave may have facetiously suggested before, I will point out that if a failed state is grounds for all of its residents to relocate to the United States, then we have an interest.