At the same time that the president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced to the world that a US military operation had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, The Minister of Defense, General Vladimir Padrino López, broadcast a video through social networks and the Telesur television channel detailing the attack suffered by his country. These two events make it clear that the overthrow of Maduro may not imply, at least not immediately, the overthrow of Chavismo.
Sources in Caracas speculate about the possibility that Maduro was “handed over to the Americans” by the Venezuelan military forces. What military forces? To date, no one has the answer.. But the possibility of some type of internal collaboration with the United States Armed Forces cannot be ruled out. Other speculations They talk about a negotiation between Maduro and the United States. In that case, the negotiated solution would be precisely that: lupon Maduro’s departure. The future of the country remains uncertain.
General Padrino López has directed the Ministry of Defense for more than ten years and has always been considered an ally unconditional of Maduro.
In recent months, attempts by the opposition and the United States to cause a split in the Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) They have been constant. Perhaps this goal has been achieved. What role did Padrino play in this eventual split? That is another question that remains unanswered. In his statement, General rejects the possibility of a “regime change.” Talks about “resisting” and “winning”, and claims that he follows the orders of “President” Maduro, who, at that time, according to Trump, He was already out of the country.
General Padrino López resides in Fuerte Tiuna, one of the military objectives of the US operation from this morning. Amid rumors of his death, the minister appeared in the video in his uniform, detailing the attacks. He talked about missiles and defended the unity of the country. Will Padrino be the man of the resistance, or perhaps the future strongman of Venezuela, with the approval of the United States? Nothing can be ruled out. Chavismo could survive and mutate. Maduro was the president of the country, but Chavismo goes far beyond now deposed president Venezuelan.
In this context, the silence of the opposition leader María Corina Machado and the former presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia is striking, given that They constantly advocated foreign intervention in the country and asked for the support of the Venezuelan armed forces to overthrow Maduro.
