In Venezuela today, tremendous unrest and government sponsored oppression under Maduro have inspired the growth of resistance in many forms throughout the state. Between civilians, Congress, and the Military, resistance groups have emerged to oppose and challenge Maduro’s regime. Consequently, these efforts have complicated people’s understanding of legitimate and illegitimate bodies of influence within the state, further perpetuating Venezuela's unstable conditions. Also, resistance efforts have created unique implications on a global scale because the international community is unable to identify the legitimate sources of power, which has limited external support and dissolved the Media’s attention on the issue altogether. However, resistance efforts remain the only outlet for people to express their distrust towards Maduro’s government and they will continue to challenge the government until a shift in power occurs.
Resistance Groups:
The crisis that has struck Venezuela has affected all levels of society. Most alarmingly, it is turning the military against their own government. In August of this year, a group of about 20 military soldiers publicly posted a video calling for a state of rebellion against the “murderous tyranny of Nicolas Maduro” (Casey 2017). The video expresses this military group’s strong disagreement with President Maduro’s corruption and betrayal of the Venezuelan people. Additionally, the video made clear that the soldiers’ goal was not to execute a coup against Maduro, but rather to restore constitutional order to Venezuela and put a stop to the murdering of young people in Venezuela. Also, in the days following the posting of the video, a military base in Valencia was attacked by several officers, who stole arms as well. This attack was identified by involved members as the “David Carbobo” operation, intended to reinforce the message of rebellion. This new series of events has deepened the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, leaving citizens uncertain and scared for their country’s future and safety.
Another important aspect within Venezuela’s political crisis is the congressional resistance, which continues to fight against Maduro’s authoritarian style of government who continuously attempts to unseat his opposition from congress. In July of 2015, Maduro created and elected his own constituent assembly, which granted itself authority to pass laws on its own, despite the strong resistance from opposition lawmakers. This electoral process is surrounded by allegations that Maduro’s administration altered the number of votes by approximately one million ballots, which further enraged Venezuela’s congress. Congress’s Vice President Freddy Guevara stated, “This is a congress in resistance of an armed military dictatorship that took over its authority and gained militarily what it could not gain at the ballot box,” standing up for the Congressional opposition. Additionally, the United States, Canada and twelve countries within Latin America including Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, have released formal statements indicating that they would regard Congress, rather than Maduro’s self proclaimed assembly, as the official legitimate law making body within Venezuela. However, the conflict continues to deepen due to how Maduro’s loyalist Supreme Court has tossed aside every one of Congress’s attempt to create new legislation to mend the grim recession and triple digit inflation. Last March, the administration made strides towards further hindering congressional power, including threatening leaders of congress with punishments such as imprisonment. Although the government has severely hindered the body’s legislative efforts, Congress remains one of the last strongholds of the Venezuelan opposition.
Venezuela’s military is notorious for killing and harming citizens when protesting or rising up against the government. This has inspired young activists to form their own resistance groups where they are able to express their frustrations and distrust for the government. I want the government to change. In the last years we’ve seen death, repression, sadness and hunger. The health services do not function and education doesn’t work. This is explained by a member of the group, Alberto, who states, “We are a pacifistic resistance movement looking for change… I want the government to change. In the last years we’ve seen death, repression, sadness and hunger. The health services do not function and education doesn’t work,” (Ebus). These young activists are calling for President Maduro, the current president who has tried to dissolve congress and re-write the institution and holds corrupt elections, to resign his presidency as he has caused so much misery in the country with his economic policies and repressive state military forces. Chamos de la Resistencia lead peaceful protests until military forces arrive and start shooting rubber bullets, water cannons, and tear gas canisters while the protesters further show their anger and resistance by using their own weapons such as molotov cocktails, fireworks, and slingshots. Currently, about 60 civilians from these youth groups have been killed, along with hundreds more who have been injured. However, the protests continue with these young resistance groups leading it and vowing to only stop until the Venezuelan government falls.
How Resistance Shapes Global Politics:
The recent acts of military rebellion have had and are still having major implications for global politics. The first surrounds legitimate and illegitimate violence. When both the government and the military are acting out violently in the pursuit of constitutional order, it leads to confusion and chaos as to which group is actually acting in accordance to the nation’s values, or if either of them are doing so at all. This makes it extremely difficult for citizens on a global, and national scale, to determine which group to side with or trust. This obstacle also makes the global community question the legitimacy of the Venezuelan government in general, as there is a clear disturbance of political balance when it comes to the relationship between the nation’s leaders and the military. This imbalance will push Venezuela even deeper into their financial crisis as well, as foreign investment becomes scarce due to skepticism of the Maduro administration’s ability to properly run the country. Global organizations such as the UN are condemning the widespread violence taking place within Venezuela, and trade partners of the state a retracting agreements due to lack of stability.
The congressional resistance is imperative to the people of Venezuela because it allows the movement to create tangible action from lawmaking entities, rather than only garnering support from grassroots movements and informal protests. Additionally, Isaias Medina, Venezuela’s Senior Diplomat in the United Nations, has formally established his position breaking from the Maduro administration, which was an important step establishing the resistance against the authoritative government on a global scale. Furthermore, the recognition of congress as the sole lawmaking body from outside countries has given the movement more support through offering solidarity to the people of Venezuela. But in relation to global politics as a whole, this crisis is highly controversial because it raises uncertainty as to what it means to be the head of state. It is difficult for the international community to recognize congress as the chief law making entity when very few of their legislative efforts have come to fruition, due to the constant pushback from the judiciary and threats of being dissolved completely. Also, it is nearly impossible to provide aid a country whose leader has proven to be untrustworthy time after time, although neighboring countries and the United Nations may trust opposition movements within the government. This takes a toll on the state because although supporters may wish to help the people of Venezuela, there lacks an established trust for financial loans to actually reach the people it needs to go to, rather than being eaten up by the administration itself. Ultimately, it is crucial that the congressional resistance continues alongside the support from outside entities, such as other nations and international institutions, if the global community wishes to successfully remove the dictatorship from power.
Citizens, like those who take part in protests organized by Chamos de la Resistencia or other resistance groups, have pleaded to the Venezuelan state and government over and over again to change economic policies so that they may be able to have jobs and food and further improve their economy, through protests and marches which have repeatedly been shut down by brutal tactics. Many journalists, activists, and organizers have been tortured or become “disappeared” because they speak against President Maduro. This calls into question who is supposed to intervene when a state does not provide basic rights and needs for its citizens and violating many international laws regarding the freedom of citizens. However, little actions has been taken by the international community. Many countries including Bolivia and Uruguay have expressed concerns for the human right violations happening under the dictatorship of Maduro and have brought the issue up in the UN Security Council, which only ended in a warning accusing the country of crimes against humanity and a pending investigation.
While the country's economic, social, and political landscape continues to deteriorate, separate bodies of influence like the military, civilians, and Congress continue to fight back against Maduro's regime. State sponsored oppression and totalitarian rule have ignited the people in an effort to challenge Maduro’s increasing power while resistance groups have gained traction in some areas. While there is a general understanding of Maduro’s corruption within the Government, it has become increasingly difficult for external forces and states to determine what is corrupt and what is not, complicating and in some cases limiting support to the people. The image of Venezuela is a complicated and confusing one, but it is important to recognize the efforts made within the country to resist Maduros self imposed government in order to gain a more accurate understanding of Venezuela today. Finally, Venezuela provides an alarming example to the international community on how economic disasters combined with a totalitarian leader can severely disrupt life for millions of people. In order to prevent similar disasters from occurring around the world, we must learn from Maduro’s devastating abuse of power.
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This post was very clear and gave me some good background on a topic I don’t know much about. I liked how you kept the theme of legitimate and illegitimate authority and violence throughout the post. Shouldn’t the state have a monopoly on legitimate violence? But what happens when the state is corrupt and illegitimate? Does that make the rebel group’s violence legitimate? It is upsetting that more people in the United States don’t care about what is happening and how corrupt the current government is. Thank you for writing this eye-opening article!
ReplyDeleteGreat job on this post! A lot of the points in this post reminded me of the violence in El Salvador. El Salvador is known to have a deeply polarized right-wing military regression during the civil war and have launched violence oppression an citizens who questioned the government. It's interesting to see the parallels between these two countries. There's a running theme with many nations where if citizens question the government, then they're deeply penalized for trying to resist corruption.
ReplyDeleteOne of the points that I find very interesting is the part about how Maduro’s administration gave itself power to create laws and most likely participated in voting fraud, has been recognized by the US, Canada, and many other countries, which basically legitimizes Maduro and his administration. Even though the US and Canada are supposedly against dictatorships and authoritarian governments of the like. Though with the US's track record of dictatorships or especially in South and Latin American I'm not surprised that they did, shall we reflect upon FDR's comment about Anastasio Somoza Garcia a dictator in Nicaragua.
ReplyDeleteNice, in-depth engagement!
ReplyDelete