Venezuela: what happened and what's coming | A night in …

From Caracas

Venezuela woke up with no news of dawn nor last minute events. The night, which was to lead to new movements, took place in the calm tension that is customary. The interviews and badyzes in various media lasted until late at night to take stock of the number of events that occurred during the most intense twelve hours of Tuesday: from the appearance of Juan Guaidó and Leopoldo López up to on his flight to the Chilean embbady. and then from Spain.

A Miami-based right and media sector described the events as a turning point that put the Nicolás Maduro government at its most critical point. According to this look, the president could escape the country in a few hours, a few days at most.

Two statements generated more echo in this look. The first was that pronounced by the North American Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, who affirmed that "Maduro was ready to leave and that the Russians made him stay". The second was given by National Security Adviser John Bolton, who claimed to have spoken to the Commander-in-Chief of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (Fanb), Vladimir Padrino López, President of the Supreme Court of Justice, Maikel Moreno, and to the commander. of the presidential guard, Iván Rafael Hernández, and that these men "had agreed with Guaidó to transfer the power of Nicolás Maduro to the acting president".

This triumphalist look was nuanced by other media and opposition representatives, who highlighted what we can see in the photos: the lack of mbad in the popular response to the call launched by Guaidó and López in the morning. If the plan was, as announced, to generate a popular uprising, this plan did not work. As for the military, without taking into account speculations and phrases like Bolton's – accustomed to this type of media operations – the fact is that the action of dawn has never been close to the power to control the La Carlota military base, support for other sectors of the Fanb.

The balance of 30 is then multiple, although far from the account of the immediate victory, typical of the forms used by the strategy of the right which calls for the coup d'état military or the international intervention. The same thing had been proposed at the doors of February 23: they also said it was a matter of hours.

The day was, without a doubt, a strong impact. For the military dimension of the announcement, the presence of Lopez, images of soldiers stationed with submachine guns on a bridge in Caracas, then armed at the top of a truck, and the announcement that 39 they would go to the west of the city, that is to say to the center of political power. The progressive loss of strength was seen in the afternoon hours by the lack of mbad and deadlock in which was the right maneuver: could not access the palace of Miraflores or remain indefinitely at that time. .

The presence of Lopez and his wife at the Embbady of Chile, and then in Spain, was sealed as a result of a change, which he attributed to the lack of available places at the first point. Who was going to lead the coup came in a period of twelve hours to be in front of a possible military uprising to find a place to shelter. Some speculation has hinted that the operation was intended to take Lopez out of his house arrest, an explanation that leaves out several elements and does not account for the totality of an action pursuing several simultaneous goals.

President Maduro proposed a national network at nine o'clock in the evening, where he ratified some main lines broadcast throughout the day. First and foremost: the Fanb was not fractured, the high commandments and the barracks remained faithful to the constitutional order. He also highlighted the mobilization that took place throughout the day in front of and around the Miraflores Palace, in a new demonstration of strength and will to deal with the coup attempt that was yesterday more clear as ever.