US Threats Amplify Venezuelan Economic Anxiety and Regime Consolidation

Key Quotes

"You know that the US has been attacking boats alleging that these are drug traffickers bringing drugs from Venezuela. How are people in Venezuela responding to these attacks at sea by the US? The reaction is not a unified reaction. It's not like the people of the entire country for example marching against or you know claiming to be in favor of no."

Investigative reporter Ana Vanessa Herrero explains that the response to US attacks on boats in Venezuela is divided. Herrero highlights that while some coastal regions experience fear among fishermen, the broader population is not unified in their reaction to these actions.

"Venezuelans are really not focusing on the attacks on the vessels but focusing on the economy. Everyone has like PTSD right now, everyone is getting ready just in case we're going to have to suffer 2016, '17 or '18 again. Those years Venezuela experienced hyperinflation of over a million percent."

Ana Vanessa Herrero points out that the primary concern for Venezuelans is the economy, not the US attacks on boats. Herrero notes that the memory of severe hyperinflation in previous years creates widespread anxiety and preparedness for potential future economic hardship.

"The people that you've spoken to, they do fear something is going to happen. They don't know. Some of them think it's going to be like, you know, a small precise attack against some of the of the Venezuelan political leaders that are now in power, and others think that they might come into Venezuela military from the US and attack Venezuela on the ground. But everyone agrees on one thing: if any of those happen, they do believe it's going to be really quick."

Ana Vanessa Herrero conveys that the people she has spoken with in Venezuela anticipate some form of US action, with varying ideas about its nature. Herrero reports a consensus among interviewees that any potential US military engagement would be brief.

"Maduro has shown amazing skills and ability to survive all the attacks that he has suffered from abroad and inside of the country, and that is something that is worth the conversation because you're talking about not only a government, a regime that that looks like it's really strong, but has people around it that are not willing to break that trust that Maduro has given them."

Ana Vanessa Herrero discusses Nicolas Maduro's resilience in maintaining power despite external and internal pressures. Herrero observes that Maduro's regime appears strong due to the loyalty of those surrounding him, who have not defected.

"He [Maduro] has survived successfully in the past pressure not only from the US but internally from the opposition protests, demonstrations, hundreds of thousands of people on the streets, and he believes that if he sits down or at least this is what he is showing, if he sits down and waits, this is all going to go away, and he has done that in the past."

Ana Vanessa Herrero explains Nicolas Maduro's strategy of waiting out pressure, citing his past success in weathering both US and internal opposition challenges. Herrero suggests Maduro believes this passive approach will lead to the dissipation of threats.

"I point this out to Americans because I think this is the idea that, you know, obviously it's a kind of touchstone, we all talk about democracy as the as the ultimate ideal. Well, people who see themselves as revolutionaries in the same Marxist sense do not regard themselves as democrats. They regard themselves as revolutionaries, and it presupposes a different set of assumptions about the way you proceed once you have power."

John Lee Anderson explains that revolutionaries, particularly those with a Marxist ideology like Nicolas Maduro, do not prioritize democratic ideals in the same way Americans do. Anderson clarifies that such revolutionaries view themselves as agents of change with distinct assumptions about governance after gaining power.