Chavismo has mobilized thousands of Venezuelans this Tuesday and against the pressure strategy that the United States is exerting in Venezuela. The rally was proposed as an “anti-imperialist” act and “in defense of sovereignty,” with its epicenter in Caracas and replicas in several cities. The march, called by the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), gathered around two central references: the eight-star tricolor flag and the sword of Simón Bolívar with the aim of sending a message of unity inside and outside the country. The crowd, wearing caps and waving Venezuelan flags, sang songs that called for a “sovereign homeland,” while hundreds of uniformed soldiers accompanied the rally, outnumbering civilians in some places. After 5:00 p.m. (local time), Nicolás Maduro joined the front of the walk dressed as a military man, accompanied by the senior government of Chavismo and generals of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces.
One of the participants, Joselyn Báez, 32 years old, student of International Relations and worker at the Vice Presidency, showed her support for “Maduro and his struggle.” Báez says that she is willing to go into armed struggle if an attack occurs and assures that she has received the training to do so “responsibly.” “Staying with your hands crossed is not defending the country.” For the public worker, Trump wants to establish a “hegemony” and that is why “he has declared a peaceful country that only wants peace to be terrorist.”
“Christ, the first socialist of humanity,” read a sign held up by a uniformed man among the crowd gathered around Plaza Venezuela, the head of the march. “Long live the Bolivarian homeland!” one of the event’s hosts harangued from the microphone. “We are not a threat, we are hope,” he shouted. Meanwhile, on state television, they highlighted the spirit of this “military-police-popular” march to demand the “unity of the country” against “imperialism’s intention to take over the natural resources” of Venezuela.
The majority of attendees were public employees, police students, agents of all police forces and the military, sectors where Chavismo maintains its support base.
Moraima Pérez, 65, a manager and social worker, defended at the march that Venezuelans are “a people who have the right to freedom” and that “they do not depend on what the United States decides.” The family of this public employee is in Spain and these days they have received calls of concern about what is happening in the country. “I told my sister: ‘Everything is quiet here,’” he says. Pérez assures that he is not afraid: “We will continue going out into the streets as long as we can to continue with this peace and let it be what God gives us.”
The mobilization includes the deployment Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the party’s new base structure, the so-called comprehensive Bolivarian community commands, created to operate and control activities considered “destabilizing” in the neighborhoods.
Chavismo’s actions in the streets contrast, in any case, with the true popular support it maintains. Analysts estimate that, currently, around 80% of Venezuelans reject the Maduro regime compared to 20% who still support it.
The street moves as the clash with the United States escalates and uncertainty grows. This Monday, – which identifies Nicolás Maduro and the military leadership – as a foreign terrorist organization, in parallel with an unprecedented naval and air deployment in the Caribbean.
Chavismo responded to this new pressure measure with a statement from the Foreign Ministry in which it described the measure as a “hoax”, a “vile lie” and a “new attempt at regime change”. The Venezuelan ruling party frames the persecution of the alleged cartel — whose existence is in doubt — in a strategy to justify an eventual intervention in Venezuela.
Maduro took advantage of his weekly Monday night program on VTV, the state’s main radio station, to link this Tuesday’s mobilization with that narrative of external siege. Without directly mentioning the Cartel of the Suns, he assured that, despite the sanctions and military deployment of the United States, “they will not be able to defeat Venezuela” and defined the country as “invincible” in the face of Washington’s “psychological, political and diplomatic wars.”
Right now, all scenarios seem open. Despite the strategy of pressure and psychological warfare against the regime, . The same day that Washington officially designated the Chavista as leader of a foreign terrorist organization, the Republican told his team of his intentions for a call to take place between the two, according to the Axios news portal. So far there is no firm date set for the conversation, according to the same sources.
Sources familiar with the situation in Venezuela do not rule out any option, but they see it as “highly” unlikely that Maduro will leave power. They explain that for that to happen, an internal division would be necessary, which, for the moment, “You have to know them well. In Chavismo there are people willing to die to defend their positions,” suggests one of those sources.
Meanwhile, on the flight tracking maps, a reflection of the successive cancellations that have reduced activity to a minimum. Other companies that operated the Madrid-Caracas route have joined the first suspensions after the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an alert on Friday to “exercise extreme caution” when flying over Venezuela due to a “potentially dangerous situation” linked to the increase in military activity in the area.
