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Latin America
Related: About this forumHow Venezuela’s Military Saved Democracy (For Its Own Reasons)
n Oct. 26 Nicolás Maduro signed his name to a document he didnt much like. It was a formal commitment to peace and democracy, regardless of what might happen after the Dec. 6 parliamentary elections. But doubts, grave doubts, remained about his sincerity. For months, polls had shown Maduros party, founded by the late President Hugo Chavez, sinking beneath a wave of popular discontent. In fact, Maduro hoped he could count on the Venezuelan military to keep him in power.
Even as the voting approached, the question remained open: Would the generals back the hand-picked civilian successor to Chavez. Maduro was not really one of theirs, after all. Chavez had emerged from the military ranks and a failed coup attempt in 1992 to become a populist demagogue and president from 1999 until his death in 2013. But Maduro was a former bus driver and labor leader who, since he took office, has presided over a collapsing economy. So where would the high command throw its support? How would it protect its own image and extensive interests? Would it back Maduro? Or would it back democracy and, inevitably the opposition?
...snip...
After that, the Chavistas knew two things: that they would lose the elections and that the army, or a large part of the army, would not go to the streets to overturn the results. There are many gray areas in the accounts of what happened, but it seems clear that the military did not want to validate a fraud and decided to defend the peoples will, says exiled Cuban journalist Carlos Alberto Montaner, who follows Venezuela closely. People often forget that 95 percent of the military suffers from the same ills as the rest of the Venezuelans.
...snip...
The militarys decision to respect the popular will was key to Maduros recognition of his defeat, even as he attributed it to economic war being waged against him and his country. The father of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo López told Spains EsRadio radio that if the military had acted otherwise, taking to the streets, a massacre would have happened.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/17/how-venezuela-s-military-saved-democracy-for-its-own-reasons.html
Even as the voting approached, the question remained open: Would the generals back the hand-picked civilian successor to Chavez. Maduro was not really one of theirs, after all. Chavez had emerged from the military ranks and a failed coup attempt in 1992 to become a populist demagogue and president from 1999 until his death in 2013. But Maduro was a former bus driver and labor leader who, since he took office, has presided over a collapsing economy. So where would the high command throw its support? How would it protect its own image and extensive interests? Would it back Maduro? Or would it back democracy and, inevitably the opposition?
...snip...
After that, the Chavistas knew two things: that they would lose the elections and that the army, or a large part of the army, would not go to the streets to overturn the results. There are many gray areas in the accounts of what happened, but it seems clear that the military did not want to validate a fraud and decided to defend the peoples will, says exiled Cuban journalist Carlos Alberto Montaner, who follows Venezuela closely. People often forget that 95 percent of the military suffers from the same ills as the rest of the Venezuelans.
...snip...
The militarys decision to respect the popular will was key to Maduros recognition of his defeat, even as he attributed it to economic war being waged against him and his country. The father of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo López told Spains EsRadio radio that if the military had acted otherwise, taking to the streets, a massacre would have happened.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/17/how-venezuela-s-military-saved-democracy-for-its-own-reasons.html
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How Venezuela’s Military Saved Democracy (For Its Own Reasons) (Original Post)
FBaggins
Dec 2015
OP
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López now has an opportunity to re-invent himself.
MADem
Dec 2015
#1
He signed a document saying he would accept the results but now is claiming fraud nt
Bacchus4.0
Dec 2015
#4
MADem
(135,425 posts)1. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López now has an opportunity to re-invent himself.
He could write his name in the military history books as the defender of true democracy.
Bacchus4.0
(6,837 posts)4. He signed a document saying he would accept the results but now is claiming fraud nt
MADem
(135,425 posts)5. Hmmm. Who kidnapped his relative, I wonder? nt
Bacchus4.0
(6,837 posts)2. the fix was on nt
GGJohn
(9,951 posts)3. Very interesting.
It sounds like Maduro is really sinking and kudos to the Army for supporting democracy and the will of the people.