Chavismo and the opposition start the battle for the support of the army

CARACAS.- The two presidents of

Venezuela

deepened their relations with generals, officers and soldiers, knowing that this was the fundamental piece of the new national puzzle.

Nicolás Maduro

inside the barracks and

Juan Guaidó

without being able to enter, but by singing their siren songs as part of the "law of amnesty and recognition of all guarantees of democratic reintegration of military and civilian officials who collaborate in the restoration of constitutional order in Venezuela ", which is being processed at full speed in the opposition-controlled National Assembly (NA).

Guaidó and Maduro are the protagonists of a

political crisis

this resumed with virulence on the 10th of this month after the oath of the chavista of a second term not recognized by several governments of the region, the United States, Canada and the EU, and the self proclamation of the president of the AN as president in charge of the country. 23 last.

The "son of Chávez" rose early to visit the barracks and naval bases, where he reviewed the troops, repeated his own nationalist and anti-imperialist harangues, demanded loyalty and loyalty and s & # 39; 39, is proclaimed the writer of a new history, "deeply rooted in history." Civic-military union ". The revolutionary leader, renamed "president of pueblo" in the officialist dogma, dared to drive a tank, even started at a little trot with his staff and with generals at the rate of a song of d & # 39; Ali Primera, favorite singer of Bolivarians. His political sponsor, Hugo Chávez, also liked to speed up without warning to drag his escort. The "supreme commander" repeated these scenes in front of the television cameras until the cancer that ended his life was well advanced.

"I came to tell the soldiers of my country that it is time to mobilize a moral force, to defend the country and the Constitution, it is a period of loyalty, civil-military union! ", Insisted the Bolivarian leader, who also accused the United States of decreeing an intervention plan aided by the" Trojans, traitors of the far right ".

Chavismo is preparing the military exercises next month, with which he intends to show his energy before the world and the opposition itself. "We must be prepared to show that we are the best, always faithful, never traitors!" Stressed the head of state.

Such determination to demonstrate the strength of his army provoked criticism from the military experts. "A strategic mistake revealing the operational readiness of an armed force waiting for an alleged invasion, as Maduro warns him on several occasions," said Rocío San Miguel, president of Control Ciudadano for the armed forces.

Double effort, since Maduro repeated as a mantra the supposed fidelity of all the army, already known of the connivance of the general, which contrasts with the doubts that remain between officers and soldiers after the uprising of 27 National Guards there has a week and after events of the current 23rd. The first landslide of significance, more symbolic than effective, arrived Saturday from "the Empire": Colonel of the National Guard, Jose Luis Silva, military attache in Washington, joined the ranks of the opposition. The colonel has broadcast one of the keys to military chavism: there are more generals than sergeants.

"Venezuelan soldier, I speak to you, I give you an order: it is time to take the side of the people, do not shoot at the citizens," insisted Guaidó. Many who tried to hand over copies of the amnesty law to the uniforms were found in front of a wall. In some neighborhoods, they broke the papers, in others, they burned them under the nose, an action criticized by the human rights defenders, who compared it with the Fire of books during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet in Chile.

Others were more receptive, like Flores Officer, Miranda State Police, who had received the document from a group of protesters who were shouting "freedom" to the company. With regard to Fuerte Tiuna. The same action has been repeated in hundreds of locations across the country. "Today, you do not decide between two political parties, you decide how you want history to remember," said MP Miguel Pizarro in a message to people in uniform.

The team of the president in charge nevertheless maintained the dialogue with the generals this week, even though they did not make themselves public. In the army, he was surprised by the brilliant rise of Guaidó in the popular imagination, while only 23 days had pbaded since its appearance. The initial scorn of the Bolivarian hierarchs for the "pajúo" (bobo) also played in his favor, the same mistake that traditional politicians made during the first years of Chavez's tenure, which he took so well for to multiply his power.