Caracas, Venezuela – English phrases once bothered Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro So much so that he urged the audience of his State of the Union address to phase out words like skate park and fashion.
But as the White House now ponders whether… The US military should strike VenezuelaMaduro embraces the English language, singing John Lennon’s “Imagine,” calling for peace and dancing to a remix of his latest English catchphrase, “No war, yes peace.”
While his shift is seen as a sign of desperation by supporters of Venezuela’s political opposition, whose leaders have repeatedly told their supporters in Washington that Threat of military action It would fracture Maduro’s inner circle, but months of pressure have yet to result in defections or a government transition.
Behind this knack for staying in power lies a system that harshly punishes disloyal accomplices and allows loyal ministers, judges, military commanders, and other officials to enrich themselves.
“The Bolivarian Revolution has a remarkable ability: the ability to hold together in the face of external pressures,” said Ronal Rodriguez, a researcher at the Venezuela Observatory at the Universidad del Rosario in Colombia, referring to the political movement, also known as Chavisio, that Maduro inherited from the revolution. The late President Hugo Chavez. “When pressures come from outside, they are able to unite, defend and protect themselves.”
The principle of loyalty or punishment is based on the networks of corruption that Chavez and Maduro bless and that give loyalists permission to get rich. This policy has previously been puzzling Efforts to oust Maduro It helped him and his closest associates evade economic sanctions, obtain a US presidential pardon, and claim the electoral victory they lost so resoundingly.
Rodriguez explained that imprisonment and torture can be part of the punishment, which is usually harsher for those accused of crimes with military affiliations. This strategy has been crucial for the authoritarian Maduro to maintain control over the military, which allows him to smuggle drugs, oil, wildlife and countless goods in exchange for coup-proof barracks.
“This has been a very effective tool because Chavismo has always been able to eliminate those actors who at some point try to rise up, and it has been able to expose corrupt practices from all kinds of actors,” Rodriguez said.
Venezuela’s political opposition, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, relied on the military’s support to oust Maduro after credible evidence showed he lost the 2024 presidential election. But Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez and other military leaders stood by Maduro, just as they did in 2019 during a barracks. A group of soldiers mutinied Who swore allegiance to Juan Guaido, the opposition leader recognized by the first Trump administration at the time as the legitimate leader of Venezuela.
Since his return to office, US President Donald Trump increased pressure on Maduro and his allies, including doubling the reward to $50 million for information leading to his arrest on terrorism and drug charges. A The 2020 indictment charges Maduro He leads the Cartel de los Soles, which the US State Department on Monday designated a foreign terrorist organization.
Maduro denies these accusations.
Trump said on Saturday that the airspace was “above and around” South American country It should be considered “fully closed”. Maduro’s government responded by accusing Trump of posing a “colonial threat” and rallied supporters behind what it described as an assault on national sovereignty.
In early September, U.S. Army They started blowing up boats Which was accused by the Trump administration of transporting drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, killing more than 80 people.
Many see it, including Maduro himself US Army movements As an attempt to end Chavismo’s control of power. The opposition has only added to this perception by reigniting its promise to remove Maduro from office.
Two weeks after the first strike, Chavismo’s loyalty was directly tested when Maduro’s pilot rejected these efforts From the United States to join a plot to capture the Venezuelan leader and hand him over to custody to face charges.
“We Venezuelans are made of a different cloth,” Bittner Villegas, a member of the elite Presidential Honor Guard, wrote to a retired American officer trying to recruit him. “And the last thing we are is traitors.”
On Tuesday, supporters of the ruling party held a march in Caracas to demonstrate what they described as the “anti-imperialist spirit” of Chavismo. The march ended with a ceremony in which Maduro raised a jeweled sword belonging to South American independence hero Simón Bolívar and instructed those in attendance, including government ministers, to swear an oath in the name of God to defend peace and freedom.
Authoritarian leaders have a “fetish of unity” and like to publicly show loyalty to prevent leadership divisions and social unrest, said Susan Shirk, a research professor at the University of California, San Diego. She explained that division could lead people to believe that the risk of protest has decreased.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Naming the Cartel de los Soles It provides Trump with additional options for dealing with Maduro. Hegseth did not provide details about these options, but administration officials indicated that they had difficulty seeing a situation in which Maduro remains in power as an acceptable ending.
David Smilde, a professor at Tulane University who has studied Venezuela for more than three decades, said only people who don’t understand Chavismo believe a show of force will change the government.
“This is exactly the thing that unites them,” Smiled said of the deployment of US military forces. “They’re also talking about a $50 million reward, but what rational military officer could trust the US government? And more broadly, if the whole premise of the operation is that the Venezuelan armed forces are a drug cartel, what motive might they have to turn against Maduro and engage in regime change?”
The entire Maduro presidency has been marked Political, social and economic crisis This pushed millions into poverty and forced more than 7.7 million people to emigrate. The crisis also caused a decline in support for the ruling party across the country.
With loyalty to his inner circle intact despite mounting US pressure, Maduro has also sought to preserve his dwindling base through established practices that include organizing rallies in the capital.
Zenaida Quintero, a school porter, witnessed the country’s collapse under Maduro’s watch, with vivid memories of… Severe food shortage Which Venezuelans witnessed in late 2010. However, its support for Maduro has not waned, and its commitment is due to one fact: Chavez himself chose him to lead the Bolivarian Revolution.
Quintero, 60, said Maduro, like Chavez, would not abandon his supporters.
“I trust him,” Quintero said of Maduro. “We have to stick together. We have to stand up for ourselves.”