Having failed to dislodge President Nicolás Maduro, the opposition is openly talking of a coup but mutual benefit links the military with the ruling party
By John Otis
in Caracas
Now that anti-government protests in Venezuela have been crushed and President Nicolás Maduro has consolidated his power through dubious electoral maneuvers and a crackdown on democratic freedoms, some opposition leaders and international pundits have raised the possibility of a coup d’etat as the only realistic way to bring about regime change.
Julio Borges, head of the opposition-controlled congress, has called on the military to “break its silence”, adding that “the immense majority of officers are against the chaos that is taking hold in Venezuela”.
Writing in the Washington Post, law professor Ozan Varol declared: “The Venezuelan military is the levee that’s keeping the democratic movement at bay to protect the Maduro regime. Only if the military breaks can the river of democracy jump the banks.”
