An old family friend living in Caracas, when asked about how things were in the city today, answered stoically: “Too quiet”.
The air feels like it was sucked out of the room after last night’s revelation that talks between the government and the opposition would go ahead, and probably sooner rather than later. Not because the talks are a bad thing, but because they came so unexpectedly. Who would have thought that the Neo-Nazi Colombian paramilitaries and the murderous Cuban puppets (names both sides have lobbed at one another) could sit at the same table and talk?
Last night, Maduro gave a few details regarding the upcoming talks with the opposition:
I hope that between Wednesday and Thursday, they’re telling me that it’s probably on Thursday, the official meeting [will take place] (…) That’s right, the public meeting will be on Thursday, like the lawyers says notarized and comunicacional [communicative?], so that Venezuela can watch this debate.
(…)
I ask the Chavista people, I ask the patriotic people, Bolivarians, the people who love this country, who were with Commander Chavez, who are with me and who continue to be at the front of this revolution, to the majority of the people who take on Bolivar as a living project, I ask for all your support, absolutely all of your support to build a foundation of peace on this new stage of republican life of our Bolivarian revolution of the 21st century…
(…)
I would be a traitor if I started to negotiate the revolution because that power doesn’t belong to me, that power belongs to the revolution, to the people, to history. In any case, my job is to administrate power to be able to do more revolution.
Perhaps most tellingly, Maduro also said that the talk tomorrow is not “a negotiation, nor an agreement with anyone. What we have here is a debate, a dialogue that is different.” I saw a lot backlash last night on Twitter and Facebook, both from PSUV and opposition supporters, who were against “negotiating with the enemy”. I think that this is Maduro’s way of making it clear that as far as he’s concerned, no compromises have been made. In a debate, your job is to argue that your position is right and the other guy’s position is wrong.
Ramon Aveledo, the executive director of the political body that makes up the opposition [the Mesa de Unidad] made a statement similar in subtext. Aveledo said that “the four points that we proposed were not conditions to go into dialogue, but rather points to include in the agenda of any dialogue.” I believe that Aveledo, fearing that his base might feel like The Four Points got thrown under the bus, felt the need to make it clear that they still exist, and that they will still be presented at the meeting.
We will not be able to achieve [an impartial] TSJ [Supreme Court] or a CNE [National Elections body] without the participation of both political majorities and that means sitting down and talking. We talk about the TSJ and the CNE because [they are] they guarantors of peace, that’s where social conflicts are resolved, today we do not have a trustworthy process for that, [and] achieving that kind of process is very important.
Aveledo also said that “without concessions, the dialogue will fail”. In other words: “Don’t worry, we’re still going to be making demands!”.
News from Elsewhere
A survey released today found that 77% of respondents feel like they can only buy less than half of what they need when they go shopping for food. The same survey found that 91% of respondents feel that there is scarcity in the country and that it is getting worse, and 68% believe that the situation in the country is bad and that it is also getting worse.
The Consejo Nacional Electoral [National Elections Council] declared today that the elections in San Cristobal, Tachira and San Diego, Carabobo to replace mayors Ceballos and Scarano, respectively, will be held on May 25. Back in March, both mayors were removed from their offices and sentenced to prison terms by the Supreme Court for – essentially – failing to remove the barricades in their municipalities. The judicial proceedings against the two mayors were universally panned as an affront to the rule of law and unprecedented in Venezuelan legal history.
Today, there was a demonstration in San Cristobal, Tachira, where the protests continue to go strong:
This picture is from San Diego, Carabobo from yesterday, and it shows some demonstrators at a barricade facing off against National Guard trucks:
A barricade from El Cigarral, Caracas, earlier this afternoon:
And finally, a video I saw today showing a really interesting way in which demonstrators are counteracting a security force tactic. The video shows demonstrators faced off against security forces in Chacao on April 2. Throughout the video, security forces appear to be launching what look like stun grenades at the demonstrators. The grenades fizzle for a bit, then explode loudly in a puff of smoke.
At several points in the video, you can see demonstrators with buckets jumping on top of the stun grenades moments before they explode. The grenades, enclosed by the buckets on which the demonstrators stand, go off with a sort of loud “ping!”, and the effects of the ordnance appear to be partially neutralized:
Commentary
The entire nation is now looking towards the supposed meeting between the government and the opposition that is supposed to occur fairly soon. So far, however, everything about them remains a bit of a mystery. Save for the vague comments Maduro made regarding the meeting being a “debate” and happening “probably on Thursday”, we don’t really know too much about the talks.
We can infer a couple of things regarding them from the tone the two sides have taken today – or rather, failed to take. As far as I can tell, both the opposition and the government haven’t really moved an inch from their stated positions going back as far as the start of the protests. In fact, Maduro today said:
[There are] people, prepared and financed for violent combat on the streets, who completed a set of [training] phases and who are very dangerous. These groups are very dangerous and they have not stopped their attempts to, by violent means, end democracy and the constitutional government of Venezuela.
Maduro also referred to the protests as belonging to “the ultra-right armed insurgency”, and said that Colombian paramilitary and/or terrorist groups work with “these ultra-right extremist groups who have brought violence to Venezuela”. It’s hard to imagine that, if the talks are supposed to take place in less than 36 hours, this government position can change much.
Perhaps all we need to know about the talks has already been said. Maduro called the talks tomorrow a “debate”. In a debate, there is no room allowed for compromise. There is no middle ground. There is no goal to which both sides can work towards, as equals, for the good of all. In a debate, only one side can win. In a debate, you have your point and the other side has their point. One side is right, and one side is wrong: or at least, it’s your job to convince the audience of this.
Given the stance both sides continue to maintain, I think a debate is what we’ll get.
In Venezuela 