When Venezuelans took to the streets this week to demand a return to democracy, they chose a date with deep historic significance: Jan. 23, the day a dictatorship collapsed in the face of surging protests more than 60 years ago.
But demonstrations alone didn’t bring down Venezuela’s strongman back then. Only when the military stepped in, with tanks alongside protesters, did the dictatorship fall.
但仅仅是示威并没有击倒委内瑞拉的强人。只有当军队介入,坦克和抗议者一起,独裁政权才垮台。
It’s a playbook that Juan Guaidó, the 35-year-old opposition leader who declared himself Venezuela’s rightful president to cheering crowds on Wednesday, hoped would be just as relevant today as it was in 1958.
While Mr. Guaidó earned the official recognition of the United States and more than 20 other countries, he remains a leader without a state. Venezuela’s military brass publicly swore allegiance to the nation’s president, Nicolás Maduro, frustrating the opposition’s plan to entice the armed forces into breaking ranks and turning the tide in the country’s long slide into authoritarianism.
But interviews with current and former military officers offer a more complicated struggle, with many officers wanting Mr. Maduro out and still looking for how it might be done.
但是,对现任和前任军官的采访提供了一个更为复杂的斗争,许多军官希望马杜罗下台,但仍在寻找解决办法。
Factions of officers who have defected say they are plotting returns from their makeshift headquarters in Peru, Colombia and other countries. Rebellious military commanders even held secret meetings with the Trump administration over the last year to discuss their plans to overthrow Mr. Maduro.
Inside Venezuela, the military’s ranks have been decimated as thousands of soldiers have deserted because hyperinflation has rendered their paychecks nearly worthless. Some other members of the armed forces say they want to join Mr. Guaidó’s side, but fear the military counterintelligence service, which has punished dissidents ruthlessly.