Venezuela: reality speaks, human misery does too

The philosophy of vomiting at the top.

Donald Trump has demanded that Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, hand over control of the oil industry. And the Chavista, who served as Nicolás Maduro’s vice president until January 3, has accepted without a peep. That’s why Trump says she is “terrific.” Rodríguez has no choice but to bow her head.

The Chavista regime has begun releasing political prisoners. At the time of writing these lines, hundreds of them still remain in Venezuela’s dungeons. It is noticeable that this measure, which has accelerated after the attack and extraction of Maduro and his wife, is generating internal tensions between the factions of the Rodríguez siblings (the president’s brother is the president of the National Assembly) and Diosdado Cabello, who as Minister of the Interior controls both the official and paramilitary repression forces. Cabello insists that those people are imprisoned for having committed crimes. He kicks and screams, though he also obeys the orders coming from Washington.

María Corina Machado is received at the White House, though in a rather low-key manner. She keeps her optimistic smile, despite everything. She fared better in her meeting with Republican and Democratic senators. However, Machado’s role as opposition leader has not earned her Trump’s support to become the political figure of the transition. Trump and Rubio have decided that Delcy Rodríguez will be the one to stabilize the economic situation. That is why they have allowed her government to receive 500 million dollars from the sale of oil seized by the United States. That money will allow Rodríguez to feed the foreign currency market and prevent the continued depreciation of the national currency, the bolívar. This should help stop the price increases that continue to overwhelm Venezuelans.

Caution and fear still dominate in Venezuela. With the exception of statements from members of the Federation of University Centers (the body representing students at the Universidad Central de Venezuela) and the Committee in Defense of Political Prisoners — both demanding the release of all persecuted individuals — most Venezuelans continue with their daily lives without protesting or expressing joy over the arrest of Maduro and Cilia Flores. Chavismo organizes demonstrations calling for the release of the former president and his “first combatant” wife, while the opposition sector is not mobilizing anyone.

The military, humiliated by the U.S. bombing and extraction operation of Maduro and Flores, still appears — at least from the outside — as a united bloc in support of Delcy Rodríguez’s government. They have had to swallow the humiliation of failure and the ineffectiveness of their soldiers and equipment. All that remains for them is empty patriotic rhetoric, stripped of any real demonstration of defensive or offensive capability. Everything indicates that the military forces prefer to preserve their privileges and businesses rather than take the risk of upholding the constitution.

Cynics, ironists, and normalizers

Human misery is also active in these days of Venezuela’s new normalcy. There are those who, from cynicism and irony, mock María Corina Machado, claiming she has been relegated to a secondary role. Many of these commentators consider themselves high-caliber intellectuals who once criticized Chavismo and advocated for a change toward freedom in Venezuela. Now, with their “brilliant” observations on X and other digital platforms, they have morphed into apologists — by omission — of the Chavista kleptocracy. They seem to prefer a Washington-tutored Delcy Rodríguez over any possibility of a transition to democracy. In their own way, they are a new breed of postmodernists who accept the new normal as the lesser evil.

There is also human misery driven by resentment. Among these commentators are those who look with horror at the fact that María Corina Machado is the most relevant political figure in the opposition. In a desert where the little local democratic leadership has been neutralized by imprisonment, corruption (yes, it must be said), or co-opted by the Chavista regime. The repulsion that Machado inspires among non-Chavista leftists leads them to prefer continuing with Delcy Rodríguez as interim president for life.

The combination of fear and human misery does not contribute to a better understanding of what is happening. There is a lot of noise on social media “on both sides.” Chavismo has fully activated its well-oiled propaganda machine, funded with money, across several countries and in digital spaces. It is complemented perfectly by intellectuals and opinion makers with their mockery and “clever remarks.” It makes you sick. The philosophy of vomit at the top.