April 30: Another Attempt, Another Defeat

Published at: 10/05/2024 06:30 PM

Despite the fact that it has promoted the worst crisis in the country's history, the Venezuelan opposition cannot find a way to remove Chavista President Nicolás Maduro from power. Its leaders trusted that the economic collapse, promoted through the sanctions requested by them, would shake the bases of political and military support of Chavism, and they bet on a new crusade with the self-proclamation of the opponent, Juan Guaidó, as “interim president”, a position that does not appear in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

In the document developed by the economist and director of the Center for Workers' Research and Training (CIFO), Manuel Sutherland, called “Venezuela: Why Did the Opposition Fail Again?” , details how the so-called Operation Freedom was created, on April 30, 2019, which aimed at the release of Venezuelan opponent Leopoldo López, who was serving a sentence of almost 13 years in prison under house arrest.

However, that was only part of the operation; in order for it to be a media event, Guaidó announced in a video released through his account on the social network X, from the immediate vicinity of the Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base “La Carlota”, in which he appeared surrounded by soldiers and Leopoldo López. There he assured that “today begins the definitive cessation of the usurpation” that, according to him, Nicolás Maduro is doing and called for a military uprising against him.

In his recording, he warned that “ there are a lot of soldiers. The military family once took the plunge. To all who are listening to us: It's time, the time is now, not only for calm but for courage and sanity for calm to come to Venezuela, God bless you, we move on. We are going to recover democracy and freedom in Venezuela.”

In addition, he asked his followers to go out and demonstrate in the streets to demand the departure of President Maduro: “We have the People of Venezuela today, the Armed Forces are clearly on the side of the People, on the side of the Constitution, loyal to the Venezuelan People, to their family, to the future, to progress. Today, as president of Venezuela, as the legitimate commander in chief of the Armed Forces, I call on all soldiers, the entire military family, to accompany us in this feat, as we have always done within the framework of the Constitution, within the framework of non-violent struggle,” he said in the video in which he appeared accompanied by the opposition member Leopoldo López.

However, Guaidó's call for civil disobedience caused uncertainty in the Venezuelan opposition and did not count on the fact that the military high command has maintained its loyalty to Nicolás Maduro and to the defense of peace in the country.

The attempted uprising Operation Freedom once again deceived its followers, since a few hours later, its supporters were disappointed when they arrived in La Carlota, because they saw with their own eyes that Guaidó and the few insurgent soldiers had failed to take the base.

And that's how, at the end of the afternoon, the promoters of the attempt ran to take refuge in the embassies of Chile, Brazil and Spain. There was no combat or feat, the fiasco of this plan further plunged his project for political change.

The most notable was the director of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), Manuel Cristopher Figuera, who decided to go into exile because of the movement's failure. President Maduro dismissed him and declared that the umpteenth armed movement against his government had been defeated.

The armed movement left more unknowns than answers and a declining opposition, with few signs of life, according to political science specialists consulted by the international opposition portal The Voice of America.

Political scientist Leandro Rodríguez Linares stressed that the opposition has not reported what happened “with certainty” on April 30, 2019 and stated that “Operation Freedom had no major achievements, the only one was the freedom of Leopoldo López. That date marked the decline of Guaidó,” he said. He even stated that “that internal and external support, with support from 60 countries, was diluted. That date is relevant in our political history because Guaidó began a decline from which he has not been able to recover.”

Later, in statements by the deputy Jorge Rodríguez, representative of the Bolivarian Government in the Mexican negotiations for that time, he announced that “Venezuela is at peace while remaining alert to a new violent onslaught by the Venezuelan opposition, who does not fully understand that it is under the respect of laws and the Constitution that we can achieve healthy coexistence within differences”.

After reviewing the events of the past few days, it is obvious that the opposition has no intention of promoting national peace.

 

AMELYREN BASABE/ Mazo News Team