Too early for Caracas to celebrate as Maduro mollifies the military
The opposition is uniting against President Nicolás Maduro, bolstered by neighbours and the US — but Maduro and the military are tight
Caracas — Buoyed by a telegenic new congressional chief, Venezuela’s opposition is daring to hope that President Nicolás Maduro’s days in office could be numbered, but the unpopular leader’s bedrock base — the armed forces — shows few signs of erosion. Opposition sympathisers, rallying around opposition leader Juan Guaido, are holding open-air, town-hall meetings that buzz with excitement about the legislature’s recent challenges to the legitimacy of Maduro, who, this month began a new term widely slammed as illegitimate. Bolstered by the US and numerous Latin American neighbours promising to back the opposition in seeking a transition, the Guaido-led congress last week declared Maduro a “usurper” and asked foreign governments to freeze bank accounts controlled by his government. But with the legislature stripped of its powers by a pro-government supreme court and few signs that the military high command is prepared to abandon Maduro, the spring in the opposition’s step and investor...
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