Caracas Chronicles

Original art by Mario Dávila

The moral and electoral defeat of 15-O represents more than defeat where you were meant to dominate; this is the moment when the MUD ceased to be a marriage and divorce began.

I mean, the same party whose leader baptised the ANC as “Prostituyente” just bent the knee and cashed the check in front of the very entity embodying the dictatorship.

It’s time for the more progressive and anti-chavista factions, like Voluntad Popular and Primero Justicia, to form their own bloc along the rest of the mavericks. It’s time to condemn parties willing to sacrifice the rest for personal gain, as sidekicks to Maduro, Diosdado and El Aissami. If those with political intuition inside the MUD have any instinct for self-preservation, they’ll realise how toxic the brand has become thanks to a handful of characters.

Twice, they have let victory slip from their hands, and each time it’s more clear that their “long term game” suits chavista interests more than it does Venezuela’s. Whether it’s intended or not is no longer relevant: the price they paid wasn’t just governor seats, it’s the toll of over 100 days of death and protesting. They chose their move, and it took them to the worst humiliation – at the expense of the coalition’s interests, and those of the country.

It’s time to condemn parties willing to sacrifice the rest for personal gain, as sidekicks to Maduro, Diosdado and El Aissami.

We had no problem calling out Manuel Rosales or Henri Falcón, why should it be different with Ramos Allup and his adeco buddies?

Their reaction to a viced process, their acceptance of defeat with a pitiful “at least we tried” and their blatant disregard for decency is a new low, for an organization that had its share of dismal lows.

This puts everything in perspective. Is AD willing to play ball with fellow mudista parties, or will they boycott everything they don’t approve of? El partido del pueblo has repositioned itself as a key player at the expense of the MUD, and, like a toddler who doesn’t feel like eating, they’re willing to make a mess to get away with it.

A new age in Venezuelan politics dawns, with three major forces: chavismo, their faux, tailor-made opposition, and the true opposition. Legitimacy is at stake, and up-and-coming politicians run the risk of being buried in the sand because of selfish, power-grabbing maniacs, that brought us here in the first place.

Esto es un abuso has never caught the mood so well as today.

I can’t wrap my mind around how much of 2017 turned out to be a waste of, well, everything.

How many deaths, incarcerations, beatings, raids, abuses, torched houses, vandalized properties, millions in material damage, countless working hours and exiles, turned out to be worth little more than a check split four ways? For all our faults and shortcomings, we still deserve more than this as a nation. Esto es un abuso has never caught the mood so well as today.

The sworn-in governors wanted to hold a press conference today at the Palacio Legislativo, but got vetoed by the opposition bloc.

So, in the spirit of that, I beg you: MUD, please don’t stay together for the kids. We’re better off with a single parent than with a broken home.