Breathe
By Stephanie Henaro
Nicolás Maduro can say whatever he wants, but at this point he does not even believe he won, because politics is done in the streets, the political pulse is felt in the streets, and today the streets no longer belong to him.
The streets of Venezuela have been taken over by the brave people seeking freedom and, in the hours leading up to his inauguration ceremony -which should rather be seen as an act of usurpation of power-, have shown the army backing down in some parts and María Corina Machado doing something that Maduro will never be able to do: walking through the streets, being accompanied by the people.
Machado is proud, and Venezuelans are no longer afraid. That is an explosive combination. So let's say it straight: Nicolás Maduro's only strength is the brute force, and he will remain in power as long as the army sustains him.
This has been the recipe of all dictators. Therefore, we should not ignore the economic interest that links the military to Chavismo, especially in the lucrative cocaine trafficking business that keeps the regime afloat. According to an investigation by El Nuevo Herald, between 250 and 350 metric tons of cocaine leave Venezuela each year, with a street value of between $6.25 and $8.75 billion.
Such is the size of the "brute force" left to the successor of Hugo Chavez, who refused to present the minutes of the elections of last July 28 to prove his pretended victory, finally adjudicated by a co-opted judicial system. Meanwhile, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, opponent and Machado's right hand man, who claims to have won with 70% of the votes, promises to return to Caracas after his international tour and assume office, even if only symbolically.
The question here is whether Chavismo will take him prisoner. In fact, the Attorney General's Office issued a new arrest warrant against him and increased the reward for his capture to $100,000. In addition, intimidations have not lagged behind: on Tuesday morning, Venezuelan police kidnapped his son-in-law, Rafael Tudares.
That is why this time the light at the end of the tunnel is reflected in the streets and has the face of María Corina Machado, who is still there in spite of everything: of a new wave of arrests of opposition and civil society leaders that unleashed international condemnation, of having spent 133 days in hiding, and of having been briefly and violently detained by the police. They do not want to see her there, nor Gonzalez either.
Caracas is militarized, and on Tuesday the uniformed officers handed out assault rifles to civilians in front of the Miraflores Palace, becoming a caricature of the same Chávez who, besieged by cancer, said: "When this body is truly finished, Chávez will not be finished, because Chávez is no longer me, because Chávez is in the streets and he became a people".
Today, Machado and Gonzalez represent all that, and that is why the streets of Venezuela are boiling.
Last one to leave, turn off the light.
@StephanieHenaro
* Stephanie Henaro Canales is a consultant, journalist and teacher. She holds a degree in International Relations from the Tec de Monterrey in Mexico City, a Master's degree in Geopolitics, Territory and Security from King's College London, and is a member of COMEXI.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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