Caracas Chronicles

Yesterday Henrique Capriles also shut the door on the idea of a Constitutional Assembly, or even the resignation of Nicolás Maduro, a man he used to claim “stole an election.” Basically, he said that without a new CNE, the Constituyente was a no-go, and that Maduro wasn’t going to resign anyway, so there was no point in asking for it.

In other words, Capriles’ position is “we need to learn to put up with this.” He offers no clear path, no answers to the pickle the country is in. He didn’t say it outright, but he has become the leader of the “let’s wait until 2018” party. Because, let’s face it, changing one group of chavistas at the CNE for another group is not going to change anything. It may even make things worse.

When did “hay un camino” (“there is a way,” Capriles’ slogan for the 2012 campaign) become “no hay una vía que te lleve rápido” (“there is no easy way out”)? Capriles is the leader of the opposition alright – the opposition to Leopoldo and Maria Corina. He seems broken, like a man who has been defeated at the polls one too many times. And the opposition? Well, the division within our ranks has never been more stark.

Oh, and while we were busy navel-gazing, chaos is exploding in Iraq, and it is driving oil prices higher.

But hey, let’s all enjoy the World Cup or whatever.