Venezuelan Crisis Boils Over as Opposition Leader Declares Himself President - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Eric Boehm:
January 23, 2019 - "Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for his second term as Venezuela's president earlier this month ... at the country's Supreme Court — rather than, as is typical, in front of the National Assembly.... Five days earlier, when the Assembly opened its new session, opposition leader Juan Guaidó stood in front of his colleagues and accused Maduro of being a 'dictator' and 'usurper' who had used a fraudulent election to claim another six-year term....
"In the days since Maduro's January 10 inauguration, things have moved quickly. The United States, Canada, and 17 Latin American countries signed a declaration refusing to recognize the legitimacy of Maduro's government. Some have cut off diplomatic ties with Venezuela. Those official actions have bolstered unofficial efforts to oppose Maduro in the streets of Caracas and other cities, where people impoverished by the Venezuelan regime's socialist policies have clashed with the military, which (along with the courts) remains loyal to Maduro.
"In the midst of huge protests Wednesday that marked the anniversary of the 1958 uprising that toppled a military dictatorship, Guaidó declared himself to be the interim president of Venezuela — a bold move that was quickly endorsed by President Donald Trump and other world leaders. 'The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law,' the White House said Wednesday in a brief statement. An op-ed from Vice President Mike Pence ... Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal ... called Maduro a 'dictator with no legitimate claim to power' and encouraged Venezuelans to support Guaidó....
"Whether Maduro can cling to power likely depends on whether he can use the country's military to crush the current uprising — similar to what happened in 2017 when an anti-Maduro uprising was violently suppressed. Hopefully, the military will abandon Maduro....
"Maduro is a monster, and Venezuelans are right to want to remove him from power. He sought to continue the socialist policies of his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, and has now brought those ideas to their inevitable conclusion. Chavez nationalized the Venezuelan oil companies and used the profits to fund a massive welfare state, but production declined ... in the absence of competition and foreign investment. When oil revenues fell, ... Chavez (who died in 2013) and Maduro printed money.... When inflation resulted, they closed off Venezuela to imported goods. Before long, what had once been the richest country in Latin America was reduced to a place where toilet paper is considered a luxury. An estimated 3 million Venezuelans have fled the country, turning the nation's collapse into a regional humanitarian crisis....
"[T]he Trump administration's response ... has been admirable in its restraint. After all, it was Trump who suggested, in August 2017, that American military intervention could be used to 'topple' the Maduro regime. In September 2018, White House officials met with Venezuelan ex-patriots to discuss the possibility of a U.S.-backed coup to overthrow Maduro. Ironically, both incidents served to only tighten Maduro's grip on power, as he was able to point to U.S. machinations as the source of Venezuelans' problems....
"An American-backed military coup in the style of the ones that toppled governments elsewhere in Latin America during the 1970s and 1980s would likely trigger endless internal conflict in Venezuela — and foment distrust towards whomever eventually replaces Maduro....
"The United States ... has an opportunity to show that it has learned a lesson from the decade-plus quagmire in the Middle East. Namely, that regime change is never as neat and tidy as it might appear at the outset, and that nation-building is best done by the people who will have to live there when the job is finished."
January 23, 2019 - "Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for his second term as Venezuela's president earlier this month ... at the country's Supreme Court — rather than, as is typical, in front of the National Assembly.... Five days earlier, when the Assembly opened its new session, opposition leader Juan Guaidó stood in front of his colleagues and accused Maduro of being a 'dictator' and 'usurper' who had used a fraudulent election to claim another six-year term....
"In the days since Maduro's January 10 inauguration, things have moved quickly. The United States, Canada, and 17 Latin American countries signed a declaration refusing to recognize the legitimacy of Maduro's government. Some have cut off diplomatic ties with Venezuela. Those official actions have bolstered unofficial efforts to oppose Maduro in the streets of Caracas and other cities, where people impoverished by the Venezuelan regime's socialist policies have clashed with the military, which (along with the courts) remains loyal to Maduro.
"In the midst of huge protests Wednesday that marked the anniversary of the 1958 uprising that toppled a military dictatorship, Guaidó declared himself to be the interim president of Venezuela — a bold move that was quickly endorsed by President Donald Trump and other world leaders. 'The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law,' the White House said Wednesday in a brief statement. An op-ed from Vice President Mike Pence ... Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal ... called Maduro a 'dictator with no legitimate claim to power' and encouraged Venezuelans to support Guaidó....
"Whether Maduro can cling to power likely depends on whether he can use the country's military to crush the current uprising — similar to what happened in 2017 when an anti-Maduro uprising was violently suppressed. Hopefully, the military will abandon Maduro....
"Maduro is a monster, and Venezuelans are right to want to remove him from power. He sought to continue the socialist policies of his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, and has now brought those ideas to their inevitable conclusion. Chavez nationalized the Venezuelan oil companies and used the profits to fund a massive welfare state, but production declined ... in the absence of competition and foreign investment. When oil revenues fell, ... Chavez (who died in 2013) and Maduro printed money.... When inflation resulted, they closed off Venezuela to imported goods. Before long, what had once been the richest country in Latin America was reduced to a place where toilet paper is considered a luxury. An estimated 3 million Venezuelans have fled the country, turning the nation's collapse into a regional humanitarian crisis....
"[T]he Trump administration's response ... has been admirable in its restraint. After all, it was Trump who suggested, in August 2017, that American military intervention could be used to 'topple' the Maduro regime. In September 2018, White House officials met with Venezuelan ex-patriots to discuss the possibility of a U.S.-backed coup to overthrow Maduro. Ironically, both incidents served to only tighten Maduro's grip on power, as he was able to point to U.S. machinations as the source of Venezuelans' problems....
"An American-backed military coup in the style of the ones that toppled governments elsewhere in Latin America during the 1970s and 1980s would likely trigger endless internal conflict in Venezuela — and foment distrust towards whomever eventually replaces Maduro....
"The United States ... has an opportunity to show that it has learned a lesson from the decade-plus quagmire in the Middle East. Namely, that regime change is never as neat and tidy as it might appear at the outset, and that nation-building is best done by the people who will have to live there when the job is finished."
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