Venezuela's polarization shows no signs of subsiding.
| Autor | Gaudin, Andres |
Venezuelan political leaders say that 82% of citizens believe that political polarization is harming the country and that the leaders of the governing Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV) and the opposition Mesa de Unidad Democratica (MUD) should negotiate a new status quo to ensure a harmonious coexistence.
Although no one knows where that dramatic information comes from, analysts and party leaders who have abandoned the MUD in recent weeks are clearly using it as an accurate description of reality, and they cite it as the main reason for their decision to break with the structure run by twice-defeated presidential candidate Henrique Capriles.
"We Venezuelans are fed up with the systematic confrontation, with people in power who write off those of us who criticize them and who insult us, and with an opposition that does not see what is positive simply because it comes from the government and that insults the president [Nicolas Maduro] in the most offensive way," said Felipe Mujica, leader of Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), the third-largest party in MUD, when he announced on July 19 that MAS was withdrawing from the opposition alliance.
No one paid any attention to his message or that of other leaders who made similar statements. The government and the opposition continue to resort to insults and disparagement whenever they refer to each other.
Against this backdrop, all national sectors-politicians, business people, and workers--see the government and the opposition continuing to write new chapters in a narrative that has pushed the stability of the country to the brink. Analysts can no longer trust either the polls or statistics released by public-opinion consultants and the press because they all have taken sides and consequently lost their objectivity. The only accurate data came on Dec. 18 when Venezuelans went to the polls to elect municipal authorities (NotiSur, Dec. 7, 2012, and Jan. 25, 2013).
In this context, positions previously shared by the vast majority--such as viewing the US government with suspicion--have become the private domain of the governing party. "To escape the minefield that the country has become, the government and the opposition have taken their dispute abroad," said political analyst Victor Mijares, an international analyst close to the MUD.
Maduro sought refuge, and found it, in the progressive South American governments and regional organizations. Capriles sought protection, and did not find it, or...
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