The emergence of the coronavirus It has shaken Venezuela’s deep political crisis. The country faces the pandemic with a health system decimated by mismanagement and lack of resources, while millions of people cannot afford to comply with the quarantine decreed by the authorities because their incomes depend on the informal economy and they need to go out to get supplies. The seriousness of the situation has reactivated the initiative of the head of the legislature, Juan Guaidó, who raised the formation of a National unity governmentl without the presence of Nicolás Maduro.
This is the first time that the opposition leader, who has been fighting for more than a year with the Chavista leader, clearly proposes an agreement between all the political forces. His usual reference to a transitional government and elections with guarantees could not be made outside the political consensus. That idea was always implicit. But at the same time it was a taboo, especially for the most radical wing of the opposition, which has not stopped demanding an intervention by the United States.
The urgency generated by Covid-19, which has exposed the country’s collapse, has led to a change in the premises. “To those who support me and have supported me on this path, I must tell them that we must be realistic,” Guaidó said over the weekend. “For it to be possible and for it to be sustainable, a national emergency government cannot be made up only of those who think like us. Nor can it be made up only of us and those who today support the dictatorship; It must be comprehensive and include all the political and social sectors necessary to face this serious emergency that is coming to us, ”he said.
There is only one condition, according to the Venezuelan leader, and that is that Maduro is not in the front, which from the outset greatly hinders that path, At least in the short term. In the opposition ranks, they consider that the drug trafficking charges made last week by the United States Department of Justice disable the successor to Hugo Chávez and his environment. Washington also put a price on their heads, offering $ 15 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest and $ 10 million for pro-government leaders like Diosdado Cabello or Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino.
The decision of the US justice system deepened the isolation of the regime and closed the door to the bilateral cooperation attempts that Caracas was trying with neighboring Colombia to try to contain the effects of coronavirus along a border of more than 2,200 kilometers. Maduro himself recognized the dimension of the urgency and the lack of liquidity of the Government in an unprecedented request for help. The president applied to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a loan of $ 5 billion. The agency rejected the granting of the loan because there is no agreement among its members on the recognition of the scheme. The mere fact demonstrates the loneliness of the Government and multiplies the vulnerability, health and economic, of the population to the virus. At the moment, according to official figures, 129 infections and three deaths have been registered.
In recent weeks, Chavismo and the opposition had taken some steps towards a negotiation. They even agreed to the process of renewing the National Electoral Council with a view to holding the parliamentary elections scheduled for this year. However, the regime did not stop harassing Guaidó and his collaborators. The opposition leader denounced a search of his home on Sunday night. “Again the dictatorship in my house, with the same excuse […] an alleged spread of the virus. The objective: to terrorize ”, he maintained.
The proposal of a government of unity It represents the umpteenth challenge for the hard core of Chavismo. The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) is not willing to drop Maduro, who despite pressure from the opposition and the international community – more than 50 countries continue to recognize Guaidó as interim president – maintains control of the springs of the State and especially of the Armed Forces. This Monday the Bolivarian leader addressed a letter “to the world’s leaders” in which he attributes to the United States the responsibility for a health emergency that Venezuela is suffering in the midst of a pandemic. “Instead of focusing on global cooperation policies,” writes Maduro, “he has rejected requests from the international community to lift or relax the illegal sanctions that prevent Venezuela from accessing medicines, medical equipment and food.” To the usual anti-imperialist repertoire, the Venezuelan president added a specific accusation: “He has prohibited humanitarian flights from the United States to Venezuela to repatriate hundreds of Venezuelans caught in the economic and health crisis that the northern country is experiencing.”
Information about the coronavirus
– Here you can follow the last hour on the evolution of the pandemic
– The coronavirus map: how cases grow day by day and country by country
– Coronavirus questions and answers
– Guide to action against the disease
– If you have symptoms, these are the phones that have been enabled in every country in Latin America.
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