in bocca al lupo to the dog star

On April 30^th at 5:46 AM local time, Juan Guaidó announced the ‘definitive phase’ in his attempt to unseat the Maduro government. In other words, he announced that a coup was in motion to oust Maduro. Apparently, Guaidó has never read Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. Neither, for that matter, have his supporters in North America. His attempt at mobilizing the military and populace against Maduro fell flat a scant few hours after it was begun. There are red faces and fierce rhetoric all around within the Washington Beltway. In Venezuela Guaidó has now fully disgraced himself and his movement. His mentor, Leopoldo López, has fled, taking refuge in the Spanish embassy. The few soldiers that stood in the attempt have sought refuge in the Brazilian embassy. Continue reading “Venezuela, the Art of War and how to flimflam your opposition”

On the 23^rd of Jan 19 the US, primarily, along with a few other nations, attempted a coup in Venezuela. It played out as an opposition leader, one Juan Guaidó, swore himself in as president of Venezuela. The only problem with that is that he is not the elected leader of Venezuela. That title falls to Nicolas Maduro, who was reelected by a wide margin on 20 May 18, in what the Western media outlets slammed as a sham election. The further problem with that is the opposition parties refused to take part in the election, and in fact were directed not to, with the result that voter turnout was low. The opposition parties are also badly divided. So now Venezuelans face the prospect of a drawn-out internal battle, mission creep and a long siege for control of their nation, intensified external pressure to overthrow Maduro and increased sanctions so long as Maduro hangs on to power. Continue reading “America’s latest attempt at king-making”