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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Venezuelans watch the military for signs of fraying loyalty |
| 2017-08-07 |
| [HOSTED.AP.ORG] As Venezuela's political crisis spins further out of control, many are looking to the military to see if its once-unflinching loyalty to the socialist revolution might be fraying. On Sunday morning, Venezuelans awoke to news that a small group of gunnies tried to take over a major military base in the central city of Valencia after a long-mutinous national guard captain appeared in a video calling for rebellion. The government said what it described as a "terrorist attack" led mostly by civilians dressed in fatigues and deserted officers, not active troops, was quickly put down and seven people were incarcerated Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! . It wasn't clear how much support existed for the so-called "Operation David," but dozens of civilians startled by the sound of gunfire poured into the streets singing Venezuela's national anthem to back the rebels. Many people wonder whether the tension-filled incident could foreshadow a bigger uprising to come from a military with a long history of rebellion and whose troops - like many Venezuelans - are increasingly caught up in the nation's economic and political crisis. Analysts say that such a scenario is unlikely for now |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 and their Cuban minders may have a say in it Somebody does. The equipment that's showing up looks new. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2017-08-07 18:49 |
| #3 Cubans reportedly provide significant intelligence support in country, one has to wonder how many thousands of Cuban troops that entails. I seem to recall they have a habit of big numbers when asked in by other dictators. Also wonder how much Iran may be nesting in to Caracas? |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2017-08-07 14:41 |
| #2 and their Cuban minders may have a say in it |
| Posted by: Frank G 2017-08-07 08:48 |
| #1 ...Yeah, it's not going to be a handful of guys announcing they're overthrowing Maduro, though I could be underestimating the effects of machismo on a platoon of grunts. It's going to be big, it's going to hit hard, and it's going to be over fast. Problem at this point is that ALL of the military leadership there is bound to Chavez' memory and Maduro pretty much personally. They won't pull the trigger until they feel threatened personally, and sadly there's a loooooong way to go before that happens. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2017-08-07 05:39 |