After the humanitarian aid debacle at the border on February 23rd, and amid the ongoing national blackout, pressure has been building on caretaker President Juan Guaidó to come up with a definitive solution to the crisis in the form of military intervention, undermining critical unity.
As Nicolás Maduro forced all TV and radio stations to broadcast his accusation that the U.S. caused the collapse of Venezuela’s power grid, the secret police was arresting Luis Carlos Diaz, the journalist and occasional Caracas Chronicles contributor, that state media is framing for “sabotage”.
Most of the country is still in the dark amidst reports of looting and repression by security forces and colectivos, although service has been restored in some areas for now. Caretaker President Juan Guaidó offered a balance of the problem and said he's talked with other nations to ask for help. Parliament is set declare a State of National Alarm this Monday.
One night without electricity in one of the most dangerous cities in the world is stressful. Two, three, four nights in a row, amidst a nationwide blackout, is absolutely terrifying. Priorities, customs, expectations are subjected to all kinds of changes. But one old British novel on a screen can provide shelter.
This is Caracas before Night 4 of the blackout: a ghost town where behavior is increasingly similar to those of apocalyptic novels and movies. Ordinary citizens feel completely abandoned by the State and have no clue of what to expect. The US dollar takes over the survival economy, cash only.
Imagine you were forced to live far from most of your family and friends. Imagine now that they live in one of the most dangerous countries on Earth. And now picture this: you can’t contact them because there’s no power in the whole country, for almost 24 hours.
On Friday, February 22nd, when the Venezuelan Armed Forces sent a convoy toward the Brazilian border to block the entry of humanitarian aid, indigenous people in the village of Kumarakapay tried to stop them. In response, the Armed Forces opened fire, killing seven. Caracas Chronicles spoke to a UK-based Venezuelan sociologist who has worked in the community for decades.
Three Venezuelan scholars abroad, all of them specialists on the mechanics of Latin American authoritarian political systems, offer their different perspectives on the complexities, risks, and possibilities of the dictatorship’s disintegration.
Guaidó announced after his LatAm tour that he’d come back to Venezuela and called for nationwide rallies this Monday at 11:00 a.m. Several countries, warned Maduro not to take any actions against him. Pressure builds for Michelle Bachelet to visit Venezuela. Regime members keep pushing for dialogue with no talk of elections.
People across the world are fighting on Twitter with exasperated Venezuelans, but with some narrow right vs left categories that simply don’t work here. This brief summary of the Venezuelan mindset explains why.
We’ve been able to hang on for 22 years in one of the craziest media landscapes in the world. We’ve seen different media outlets in Venezuela (and abroad) closing shop, something we’re looking to avoid at all costs. Your collaboration goes a long way in helping us weather the storm.