Caracas Chronicles

Photo: Diario Las Américas retrieved

In an open contrast with the Maduro regime, all conspiracy theories and inaction while the nationwide blackout reaches its fifth day, the caretaker president Juan Guaidó and his team have set up a Situation Room with technical help to deal with the crisis. There have been conversations with other countries to get assistance, but for now, they’re monitoring the tragedy and offering reports on losses, damages, social conflict and the availability of the hospital network. This is tremendously important work, since in a country shrouded in darkness, verifiable information is quite hard to get and terrible realities are inflated by cruel rumors and the regime’s indifference and silence.

However, in the previous two days, out of desperation or some political agenda, a loud sector of the opposition has been pushing the narrative of foreign military intervention as the only way to put an end to the chavista regime. They reject any talk of elections or negotiation and they want to go all-in on foreign forces vanquishing the oppressors and liberating the country. They call for the National Assembly and Guaidó to activate Article 187, section 11 of the Constitution, which gives the legislative body the capacity to formally allow foreign military action in the country. Guaidó has said that they will invoke that article when the time comes.

In the previous two days, out of desperation or some political agenda, a loud sector of the opposition has been pushing the narrative of foreign military intervention as the only way to put an end to the chavista regime.

Most of the nations in the hemisphere have formally refused to support military intervention in Venezuela after the events of February 23rd, but these people hold such action as a panacea that will make all of our problems disappear with a swift, single in one stroke, and claim that the caretaker government is irresponsible for failing to request it.

Now, I’m all for holding leaders accountable and pressure them to get things done, but unlike Guaidó, I don’t hold elected office and pay no political price for my statements and postures. People don’t have expectations about me, I’m not the one who has to make the decisions and face the fallout. I’m not the fresh face of The Transition, and neither are all these radical voices, but some of them, such as Vente leader María Corina Machado (with 4.3 million followers on Twitter) can sway public opinion, diminishing people’s battered faith and undermining critical support for the democratic cause in a crucial moment.

1/3 Hay quienes temen usar la palabra “intervención”.
La verdad es peor: la invasión a Venezuela ya ocurrió.Guerrilleros,paramilitares y terroristas ocupan nuestro territorio.
Hoy,hasta los técnicos d Corpoelec han huido.Agentes cubanos y soldados “operan” el sistema eléctrico…

— María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) March 10, 2019

Solicitamos a los diputados que mañana en la sesión extraordinaria de la @AsambleaVE, además de declarar un Estado de alarma para Venezuela se invoque el art. 187 numeral 11.

A la comunidad internacional solicitamos activar el principio de Responsabilidad de Proteger de la ONU.

— Vente Venezuela (@VenteVenezuela) March 10, 2019

And then we wonder how Maduro can dance while people are dying; every day he sits in Miraflores, he considers it a victory and chavismo thrives in discord and conflict. With their foes doing their dirty work for them, who needs allies?

It’s understandable that anguish and dread peak in our circumstances, and citizens facing isolation, starvation and death can only hope for a quick resolution for this nightmare. Sadly, this is fertile soil for upstarts and professional dissenters to inflame distrust and gain fame. If we’re truly bent on restoring democracy in Venezuela, and if we truly care about our people, then we must never lose sight of one very important thing: this catastrophe was caused by the regime.

If we’re truly bent on restoring democracy in Venezuela, and if we truly care about our people, then we must never lose sight of one very important thing: this catastrophe was caused by the regime.

I don’t know if military intervention is necessary for regime change, and I don’t know if Guaidó and the rest of the leadership are really doing all in their power to put an end to this horrible situation, but I know that what they’re doing right now, despite their own heavy restrictions, is important and vital.

Some may think it’s not enough, and perhaps it isn’t, but the truth is we have much better chances to secure a transition together, with a single purpose; squabbling amongst ourselves out of fear or the desire for notoriety favors the regime, and that’s indeed something we can’t afford. In Guaidó’s own words: “The regime tries to confuse us amid despair and make us believe that we all share responsibility for the crisis; we must not succumb to hopelessness or division, the success of this phase of the process lies in the unity of all the country’s sectors, in Venezuelan citizens mobilized and demanding our rights.”