By Luis
Manuel Aguana
What does it mean to make politics? This is what the Google search engine answered me on the first try: “Making politics means engaging in activities related to group decision-making, exercising power, managing resources and seeking the common good, through dialogue, negotiation and the formulation of laws and policies for progress and social order”.
The question arises from the scandalous silence of the national debate on how the country has come to a standstill while waiting for the outcome of the situation generated by the dispatch of US warships in front of our territory, where, on the one hand, the regime is waiting for a hypothetical US invasion, and on the other hand, an opposition that has reduced its political actions to the decisions made in the White House, to crystallize the capture of those who hold the “wanted” poster for drug traffickers, produced by the US authorities. Politics in today's Venezuela has been minimized to that grimace.
Is politics being done in Venezuela? Clearly, no. According to that standard definition of the above mentioned search engine, no decisions are being made that include, through dialogue, negotiation and the formulation of policies for progress, all the interest groups that have something to do with what is happening in the country. Venezuela does not only belong to those who dedicate themselves to politics as a profession, even when they are also part of it and have an important opinion to give.
And it is not because we are in the midst of an authoritarian regime such as the one that has been ruling us for more than a quarter of a century. No. It is because the debate to discuss the policy options to be applied to the misfortune suffered by the country has been reduced to its minimum expression, when it was concluded -despite all the painful journey of the Venezuelan population- that “the only way out of the problem has to go through a solution of force”. And in that sense, we have reached the point of waiting for a politician -or politicians- outside our borders, whose interests most probably do not correspond to ours, to make a decision of that magnitude for us, because “we cannot do it alone”.
And many will find this point of view intolerable, and I can understand it. Venezuela is exactly in the case of a wounded person who by an accident -in this case of history- has a sharp object stuck in his chest, and who by a divine miracle has not yet died, but is in agony. The majority has been convinced to remove the object immediately, in desperation to save his life. And that criterion has prevailed for our country, to the point that politics is no longer made. It is either that or nothing.
In using the medical metaphor, I should state the recommendation for such cases: "You should avoid removing an embedded object from a wound because you risk causing more severe bleeding if the object is plugging a blood vessel, aggravating internal damage if it has punctured organs, or destabilizing the patient in case of massive bleeding. Instead, the object should be immobilized with a bandage to prevent its displacement and seek professional medical attention immediately" (see in Spanish pre-hospital medicine explanatory video at https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHCDL9vuXOO/).
And in the Venezuelan case the situation is more serious. The massive perception has been created that removing the object that does harm will solve the situation. However, we must be clear that removing the object in the manner proposed is not a good idea. And that is precisely the assessment that the US is making, to examine whether or not to proceed to remove the hurtful object from Venezuela. Let's see:
In a recent interview with former US Ambassador to Venezuela, James Story, conducted by journalist Gabriela Perozo, of VPItv, the former ambassador pointed out what could be the US decision regarding a supposed “removal” of the sharp object stuck in Venezuela:
"GP: And is there a way that they can mobilize quickly, at some point are the fortresses being built, or do you for now see a message?
JS: I don't see it. I don't see it, inasmuch as we always have the capacity to make a specific extraction within Venezuela. That exists. We have the capacity, as we have seen in Iran and also Iraq at a given moment with Suleiman, of a specific action against specific people. That does exist, we are always, always going to have this, but obviously what is happening right now is that Maduro is calling attention to a possible military confrontation to try to gain support in the region with President Petro and others.
We have not said this time, no, more (than) once, there is no effort, or there is not enough force for a military confrontation. And if we do not know what comes next, it is difficult to take action. I mean, imagine, and more once I am retired, I am not inside the government, but if I were the one making the decision, okay, we are going to take action against the military leadership and Maduro. Yes, it can be done. But what comes next? There can be chaos because there in Venezuela what do you have? the ELN, FARC, the Aragua Train. I always said that Maduro himself is the mayor of Fuerte Tiuna, he does not dominate the country. He does not dominate the country. So, these illegal armed groups that exist in Venezuela can cause chaos after the fall of Maduro, even more than what exists today. So, we have to define if Maduro and his leadership leave tomorrow, how they are going to govern the country. That's important" (see in Spanish Ambassador James Story, exclusive on Military Operation in the Caribbean, - 26Aug, in https://youtu.be/AtXg11fNxLE?t=578) (highlighted our).
And in the event that the US decides to intervene and a hemorrhage is unleashed during the extraction of the hurtful object from Venezuela, given that it would be a unilateral extraction, given that so far no country is accompanying that action (I discard here the Latin American countries that have supported the US decision because even so, it is still a unilateral action due to the specific weight of the US, and it would have to be seen if they would be willing to intervene in Venezuela. See in Spanish Marco Rubio announced the creation of an international coalition with South American countries to fight drug trafficking after military deployment near the Venezuelan sea, NTN24.COM, in https://share.google/kuYoV07CarLObFEfx), Ambassador Story's opinion is as follows:
"JS: ...But I would think that President Trump is willing to act unilaterally.
GP: And that would be good or that could be surprising, no?
JS: It would be easier perhaps because he wouldn't have to reach an agreement with a lot of countries. Yes, but the result is as Colin Powell once said, if you break it, you own what you broke. So, then imagine the day after the fall of Maduro you have to deal with Tren de Aragua, with ELN, with FARC, with all those illegal groups, with the Cubans who are there, with the Iranians, with the Russians who are doing who knows what in the Esquibo. That would be quite difficult. So that's not part of President Trump's thinking on how to do foreign policy." (see in Spanish Ambassador James Story, exclusively on Military Operation in the Caribbean, - 26Aug, in https://youtu.be/AtXg11fNxLE?t=2466) (highlighted our).
In other words, as stated by Colin Powell, former US Secretary of State in the administration of President George W. Bush, the US “would own what it broke”, that is, it would have to go head, feet and hands into the country militarily to bring order to the mess, only as a consequence of the unilateral decision to remove the hurtful object from the country.
And I don't believe, like Ambassador Story, that they are willing to do that, which is why he is adamant on the need for the presentation of A PRIOR PLAN that minimizes the effects and clearly states what to do the day after. And I do not believe that such a plan still exists if at this point the former ambassador claims it to the Venezuelan opposition as a pending task. And what would such a plan look like and what would it include? Let's see what Story says:
"JS: Well, in March 2020 we launched Elliott Abrams and we, from the State Department launched the Framework for Democratic Transition....
GP: Which was a way out for the military, right?
JS: Exactly. We defined how and that indicated for the military within the regime that there was going to be a life for them afterwards because....
GP: There was a kind of amnesty, right? It is good to remind people of that.
JS: Exactly. Not for those who have crimes against humanity, Human Rights, but for others. Because imagine, there are quite a few people within the system who want to leave, but they do not know how, and there is a lot of fear within the system with the Cubans helping to torture politicians and military in the Helicoide. There is a lot of fear. And what comes next is a good question, how are they going to take part in a political life or a normal life in Venezuela afterwards? I think this was an idea, obviously that we communicated with the opposition at the given time, but that was an idea rather from outside and now I need an idea from inside. How are you going to, let's say, rebuild the national institutions in Venezuela? the Supreme Court, obviously you have to have a vote for mayors and then for deputies and then for governorships and then for the president. What would be the schedule (chronogram) of doing this? In 3 months we start? In 6 months we start? Who is going to be in charge of a transitional government? Who is going to be left? Who is not going to be left? Who cannot? and how are they going to bring to the people of Venezuela what they need, which are medicines, food, access to clean water, access to education and health. Those are the things that you also have to define, but the political definition is of utmost importance at that moment" (see in Spanish Ambassador James Story, in exclusive on Military Operation in the Caribbean, - 26Aug, in https://youtu.be/AtXg11fNxLE?t=747) (highlighted our).
In reality what they are asking (and have always asked) the politicians seeking power in Venezuela, is that they present, if they want decisive help from the US, an updated Venezuelan version of what they, the US, proposed in March 2020 as the Framework for Democratic Transition for Venezuela, which although rejected by the opposition, also proposed none (for those who wish to recall this proposal, I suggest you read Framework for Venezuela's Democratic Transition, presented by Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, in March 2020, in https://tinyurl.com/2n92p47v).
But in order to seriously develop a Venezuelan plan in a comprehensive manner, POLITICS MUST BE DONE, because all democratic sectors must be summoned, if those who lead the opposition consider themselves democrats. Without that task done, any help such as that sought from the U.S. will never crystallize.
In the construction of this plan, all sectors, civil society, churches, workers, but especially the mourners who have participated in this struggle against what is happening in Venezuela, must be included. That endless list of questions to be answered suggested by James Story, and others that are not reflected in that interview, go beyond the scope of response of a single opposition group, even if it is the one in charge.
And perhaps that is the reason why up to this day there are no answers to them, and it is a strong evidence not to believe that only extracting the wounding object from the body of Venezuela is enough to preserve the life of the patient, without those answers having been clearly resolved to the satisfaction of all those involved, especially the country that is going to provide the help that is required.
Many of them, such as the re-foundation and institutional reconstruction of the country, what to do with the Public Powers, have their answer in the immediate call for an Original National Constituent Assembly, as we have repeated to the country on countless occasions from the Alianza Nacional Constituyente Originaria (ANCO), as the most important part of that plan.
However, a Constituent Assembly is only one of the most important pieces of the complex Plan that must be suggested, not the only one, and to which the Venezuelans and our friends of the International Community must be given an answer, so that there may be a safe and coordinated action by all to change the political panorama of Venezuelans, without false expectations.
Whatever President Trump decides to do with his warships, it is necessary to make policy, regardless of the way in which the hurtful object that makes Venezuela suffer is removed. Only if it is removed before arriving at the hospital for tests and a political plan of what to do in the middle of the operation, it is clear that there will be a higher probability that the patient will die on the way. And it is now when you have to think about it, not after the bleeding....
Caracas, 29 de Agosto de 2025
Blog:
TIC’s & Derechos Humanos, https://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/
Email: luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
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