There is an overall sense of malaise permeating this country; we know it’s there, we know what’s causing it, but we can’t do anything about it.
After the 2017 protests were over we’ve collectively resigned to live survive through this disaster as best as we can, but every day is harder than the one before, and escape is the only solution we have if we want a future for ourselves and for our loved ones in the immediate future; unfortunately, it is not a solution that everyone can afford, it’s an uphill battle for most but I’m afraid that it has become the only way.
For the most part, we have given up trying to fix this mess caused by the PSUV and the MUD (and not for the lack of trying or a lack of will to do so); this is a beautiful and unique country worth saving a thousand times over, it’s just that there is not much we civilians can do beyond sporadic protests here and there when there is no real political alternative to coalesce around with a solid proposal to fix this massive disaster; protesting itself now comes at a high risk, hell, even the mere mention of calling for protests is now punishable as “hate speech” and can get you twenty years in prison.
We’re approaching two decades of a distorted status quo perpetuated by two political sides, nearly two decades of the same sickening political game played by the two of them: The Socialist government and the center-left mess of an opposition. Its entropy upon us all and this nation continue to grow at an exponential rate.
I’ve been a witness to their ongoing disaster for nearly two thirds of my life, come think of it, I don’t know anything else. I was ten years old when all this started.
With choices like these…
At the leftmost side of the spectrum, you have the monolithically and now all-mighty socialist party and their asphyxiating regime; now triumphant, unchallenged, with the power to rewrite the constitution at will, without a real opponent. One thing is for sure, they’ve known how to play all of their cards with cunning and wit at the most precise of moments in order to perpetuate their Revolution.
They no longer care if the entire world denounces and rejects them as long as they are able to continue ruling over this country, they don’t care if they have to keep giving away our resources to Russia, China, and God knows who else as long as they can keep their whole gig rolling even if the country’s engine is leaking oil and smoke’s coming out of it, after all, they’re on an eternal mission to free us from the “Evil US Empire” .
A tiny bit further to the right but still in the left side of the field, you have the MUD (or whatever new name they have now, everyone seems to be forming some sort of “Broad Front” of their own these days), a bunch of buffoons that are content with playing the role of the eternal jobber.
The government calls them right wing, the extreme right, the ultra-right, fascists, and a whole array of other epithets and adjectives, but the reality is that the whole group is center-left at best; the worst part is that they’re content with the government calling them something they’re not, they’re happy playing that role.
A textbook case of battered woman syndrome, these beaten MUD spouses enjoy being thrown and abused by the government so long as they get just a tiny slice of power—no matter how ultimately irrelevant it is in the grand scheme of things; throw them a governor’s seat, a major here and there and they’ll perceive it as a victory.
That’s it, that’s all the choices you have here when it’s time to support a political side. Surely, you must be wondering why something new hasn’t joined the fray after all these years. The answer is that neither side will allow a much-needed new team to enter the political field; they will each do anything in their power to make sure the status quo and this farce of a “stalemate” continues, both of them need that, they need each other right where they’re at so they can continue playing the same roles and the same narratives they’ve played for nearly two decades now while Socialism continues to lay waste to what’s left of this country.
The Status Quo must go on.
In a way, that is exactly what the government has always wanted: to have a resigned—borderline docile—society, one that screams and yells but has no choice or any power to rise up against them, one that depends on them and begs for sparse breadcrumbs here and there, one that in the end complies and adapts with every new hardship caused by their decadent ideology and its inherent entropy upon us all; the opposition has played a large part in creating this mess, be it by action or by inaction on their behalf.
So, good job I guess, you all fucked up this shit good.
Grown adults that can’t get their shit together.
To talk about the Socialist Party, their politburo, and their role in the collapse of Venezuela would be beating a dead horse at this point; they have an ideological and political plan that they’ve faithfully executed over the course of these years, the results are now known to everyone inside and outside this country. (Spoilers: Its Socialism).
It’s time to talk about the travesty known as the Opposition™.
Time and time again, the people have placed their faith in the opposition and their leaders, not because they deserved it, but because they’ve been the only alternative (again, both sides have made all efforts to keep that status quo going on); time and time again they have squandered and shattered people’s hopes and will; every victory they’ve attainted has been wasted, never providing a concrete and unified front against the ruling regime, at times, even collaborating with them.
What was once known as the “Coordinadora Democrática”, then rebranded as the “Mesa de la Unidad Democrática” and now “Frente Amplio Venezuela Libre” (not to be confused with the Government’s brand new “Frente Amplio de la Patria”) is a collective and messy blend of opposition parties, comprised of the same old faces people are now tired of seeing (some more decrepit and nauseating than others) neatly rearranged in a brand-new package as if that’d do anything in the long run.
You’d think that with all that has been a stake here, with all the suffering our people have endured, are enduring, and will endure as long as this perverse status quo continues, with all the loved ones we’ve lost, with all the rights we’ve been stripped of, that perhaps, you know, after the fifth failure or so, they’d get their shit together for once, and act as a unified front; but nope, not only do they have to continue the charade that they’re “fighting” against the government when they don’t even have a concrete plan of action, they also fight among themselves; the different parties that form the opposition have backstabbed, undermined, and sabotaged one and another over and over—and they will continue to do so, it is now a fundamental part of their daily agenda.
Eighteen years have passed and they still can’t act as the genuine and united force that the country needs, eighteen years and they can’t still produce good leaders worthy of respect, with solid ideas as to how to fix this mess that they themselves have helped make.
Eighteen years and they still can’t act like the adults that they’re supposed to be.
The opposition leadership and even the most die-hard citizens that are part of it react very badly when presented with any form of valid criticism, no matter how tiny yet truthful it is (just like their buddies at the government); If you criticize them they say you’re being divisive, they’d then claim that you’re “subtracting, not adding”, or worse, they say you’re part of the government. Basically what the government does but in reverse, same reactions and all.
It’s that same refusal to learn from their mistakes that they share with the government that prevents them from getting their shit together.
Ironically, for all the “Democratic” they claim to be, their politburo takes a few notes from Socialist Party’s book, their members have no say or vote when it comes to choose candidates, leaders, or spokespersons, always presenting them all in an empirical manner, just like the government does (again, the opposition is center-left at best, very far from classifying as right wing, despite what the government says).
In addition to all the time and countless resources they’ve burned to ash, they’ve wasted every single opportunity that has been presented to them, with some being more invaluable than others.
The 2002 coup? Botched on their behalf. (Yes, this one was backed by the United States, no one cares at this point).
The 2002 Oil Strike? Failed after they couldn’t figure out what to make of it.
The 2004 Recall referendum? They government steamrolled them over and we’ll never know if the results were truthful or not due to the opposition leadership’s sheer incompetence, not like it matters now.
The 2005 Congress elections? They all bailed on that one, government had absolute control of the parliament for the next five years; it all came with a huge cost to the nation.
The 2006 Presidential elections? The candidate they presented was a joke. It’s worth mentioning that this particular individual fled the country after being accused of corruption, then negotiated his return under conditions that have not been made public yet, but his recent silence and actions speak volumes.
The 2010 Congress elections? Close, but not quite. Government still held the simple majority (50% + 1), they merely prevented them from achieving the absolute majority (two thirds).
The 2012 Presidential elections? They once again failed to procure an appropriate candidate, Henrique Capriles is and always be, a cuck, a man disliked by many of the opposition’s topmost leaders, claiming that “God’s time is perfect” when confronted with his refusal to take any action.
The 2013 Presidential elections that took place after Chavez died? They gave that one away even though there were legitimate questions with regards to the results, they used Capriles as candidate again. (awesome job guys, really awesome), protests took place for a few days but nothing came out of it because once again, the opposition leadership didn’t know what to make of them.
And then came the 2014 wave of protests known as “La Salida”, where Leopoldo Lopez (who at times has been at odds with Capriles) had the brilliant idea of attempting to become some sort of Mandela-esque figure, he turned himself to the authorities, and spent three years in jail, he is now currently under house arrest.
44 people died, and over 800 injured just from those events. International tv channels were closed down, internet was heavily throttled for months; the opposition’s own inability to act united was fundamental in the failure of these protests. It all served as practice for the government, they learned what they could get away with, how to suppress dissent with greater efficiency, how to silence media, and subjugate people’s voices.
As a side note, his wife always denounced the mistreatment Lopez received in jail over the course of those three years, and how they wouldn’t even let her see him or talk to him; yet, against all odds, she got pregnant with his child; unless it was an immaculate conception I’d say he got cucked, or they lied all along, it all points to the latter, but I’d personally say it was the former.
In 2015 the collapse of our country accelerated, and with it came what it should’ve been the golden opportunity for the opposition—and the nation as a whole: the parliamentary elections.
This time, the opposition was given the absolute faith and confidence of the people, and against all odds, they achieved a monumental victory, the absolute majority in congress, their most important victory against the government.
And just like that, they wasted it.
The government renewed the supreme tribunal’s magistrates mere days before the new congress took office, and then availed themselves of an alleged case of fraud in the state of Amazonas to strip them of the three congressmen that they won in that state, thus denying them of the absolute majority that would’ve allowed them to do so much more.
Had they not competed against each other in some states they would’ve had even more congressmen on their favor, yes they actually competed against each other in some states, and the government won in those places as a result.
Even without the absolute majority they still had enough power to do things and change laws for the better, but they did absolutely nothing, and what little they did was barely beneficial for the country—it was all blocked by the government controlled supreme tribunal anyways because they didn’t played their cards right to reverse the roles so that they’d become the heroes and the government the villain, so close, but yet so far.
They didn’t knew how to make use of that once in a lifetime opportunity, and let the government steamroll over them, stripping them of their power, which was the last straw that detonated the 2017 series of protests. Bolstered with the people’s courage and support, they took up the streets and showed to the government and their world that the Venezuelan people had enough of this mess.
It was all for nothing.
Over a hundred dead, thousands injured, the opposition sold out the protesters and abandoned them. The government installed their constituent assembly, and even seized control of the capitol out of their hands, and in that precise moment, the opposition lost that which was most valuable—the support of the people.
Once again, both sides worked behind the public eye in order to keep the same status quo; now we’re back to square one but worse—much worse, the government has even more control and power than before, and the opposition leadership continues their pantomime, not producing real actions or solutions, except they’ve now lost the trust and hope of a large majority that once supported them; their people feel betrayed and they have all the right to feel like that.
It’s not that the government is infallible and cannot be defeated, it’s just that the entire opposition leadership is astoundingly incompetent, which is why the government gladly allows their mutilated existence, every hero needs a villain, and they’re the perfect one for them because they know they can’t do anything that can topple their grasp upon this once proud nation whilst serving as a villain in their narrative (along with Trump, the CIA, MOSSAD, the cable-eating Iguanas, Capitalism, etc).
In the end, their perpetuation of this disgusting and sickening status quo at the hands of both the government and the opposition has but one victim: The Venezuelan People, unfairly condemned to suffer in a catastrophe created by the PSUV and the MUD, a whole generation of talented and hard working men and women that are withering away at the hands of Socialism, unable to fulfil their dreams and unleash the full extent of their talents; people unable to save their loved ones from sickness and illness, parents that are now unable to feed their children, to give them education, joy, and a good life, children that are now fighting against each other for garbage, deprived of a future.
As long as this status quo stands so too will the Socialism that has taken so much from us will; the only reason This “XXI Century Socialism” has lasted this long is because both the government and the opposition have made sure that it does.
As long as all of it remains then we won’t be able to save this country and its people, but both sides have rigged the game in their favor and have no interest in breaking that which they’ve both collectively built from the ground up.
Its over, pack your things and go.
-Kal
