FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Since acting president Delcy Rodríguez took office in January, Venezuelans say the atmosphere has been very different...
Until the United States arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and transferred him to a prison in New York, his image and voice dominated the public space.
The former bus driver, like his predecessor Hugo Chávez, gave long, rambling, and popular speeches, broadcast in full by state broadcasters, sometimes for hours. Even when they had little to announce, each of them filled the television time by dancing, singing, and publicly singling out suspected opponents. Buildings and billboards across the country bore their portraits.
Since acting President Delcy Rodríguez took office in January, Venezuelans say the atmosphere has been very different. While Rodríguez, previously Maduro’s deputy, has pledged loyalty to him, she has also brought about an immediate shift from confrontational populism to a more technocratic style. Her television appearances tend to be short and focused.
"There's just less hatred and less accusations being thrown around now. Maduro isn't on television all the time attacking people, and that alone makes a big difference ," says Yenyfer Díaz, a pensioner in Caracas.
Rodríguez has spent decades operating within Venezuela’s authoritarian socialist system. But under intense U.S. pressure, a cautious political opening has begun since he took power. And Venezuelans say the changes are not merely cosmetic. Small student-led pro-democracy protests have been tolerated; hundreds of political prisoners have been released; and opposition leaders are appearing on state media. All of this was unthinkable on the eve of Maduro’s arrest.
Rodríguez has also promised to close El Helicoide, an unfinished shopping mall that was repurposed as a fearsome prison. Since Jan. 3, the day of Maduro’s arrest, about 350 prisoners have been released nationwide, according to human rights groups. Foro Penal, a watchdog, said Venezuela had 687 political prisoners as of Feb. 2.
Lawmakers on Thursday advanced an "amnesty law" that, if passed, would result in pardons for political crimes committed during 26 years of revolutionary rule.
Taken together, these measures represent the first signs of an unraveling of the fundamental principles of Chavismo, the political movement launched by Chávez, a leftist populist who ruled from 1999 until his death from cancer in 2013. But many Venezuelans are wary that early advances could be reversed if American pressure eases.
Also central to Chavismo was opposition to American influence, with Chávez famously comparing then-president George W Bush to the devil during an appearance at the UN General Assembly in 2006.
During the “maximum pressure” campaign of US President Donald Trump’s first administration, Washington imposed sweeping sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry, some of which are now being lifted. Last week, the US embassy in Caracas welcomed Laura Dogu as the first US chargé d’affaires to serve in Venezuela since 2019.
With Trump focused on business benefits for American companies, Rodríguez has signed a new hydrocarbon law that effectively ends state control over the oil sector, allowing private companies to operate in Venezuela with a lower tax burden.
“ They are trying to do economic opening, but not political opening. The former is moving too fast, while the latter is slower than we would all like, and some of these actions could be reversed. However, we have come a long way in a month, and none of this would have happened without the push of the United States ,” says Ryan Berg, director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, referring to the Venezuelan government.
Rodríguez must also manage the hardliners within her cabinet, including Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who together control the armed forces, police and paramilitary groups. Cabello’s daughter, an influencer and high-society figure, was named tourism minister this month, in a move that appears to be a concession to her powerful father.
A major question remains whether Rodríguez's government will open up space for the political opposition. A private broadcaster, Venevisión, on January 29 aired comments by opposition leader María Corina Machado, who had been largely absent from the airwaves during the final years of Maduro's rule.
Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year and is in Washington lobbying the White House and diplomats to pressure for elections in Venezuela, said last week that elections could be held this year.
“Ne besojmë se një proces realisht transparent me votim manual… gjatë gjithë procesit mund të realizohet brenda nëntë deri në dhjetë muajsh. Por, mirë, kjo varet se kur fillon”, i tha Machado Politico-s.
Machado u ndalua të kandidonte në zgjedhjet presidenciale të vitit 2024, por ajo udhëhoqi një numërim paralel votash të verifikuar në mënyrë të pavarur që tregoi se kandidati i saj zëvendësues, Edmundo González, fitoi me një diferencë dy-me-një. Megjithatë, Maduro u shpall fitues. Rodríguez dhe vëllai i saj politikan, Jorge, mbanin pozicione të larta gjatë zgjedhjeve, të cilat SHBA-të dhe disa aleatë thanë se ishin të manipuluara.
Ndërsa administrata e Joe Biden-it e njohu fitoren e González-it, Trump e ka lënë mënjanë Machado-n. Në konferencën e tij për shtyp në orët pas arrestimit të Maduro-s, ai tha se liderja e opozitës nuk ka mbështetjen… ose respektin brenda vendit për të udhëhequr Venezuelën.
Ricardo Ríos, drejtues i kompanisë lokale të sondazheve Poder & Estrategia, tha se reformat po zhvillohen “me shpejtësi të pazakontë” dhe se sondazhet e kryera këtë javë sugjerojnë një publik që po ngrohet ndaj moderimit në Miraflores, pallatin presidencial.
“Ka shumë pritshmëri për përmirësim ekonomik, që sigurisht vjen falë kompanive të naftës dhe Trump-it, por kjo gjithashtu luan në favor të Delcy-së”, thotë Ríos.
Maduro ishte thellësisht jopopullor, pasi kishte mbikëqyrur një tkurrje të rëndë ekonomike, ku PBB-ja u zvogëlua me rreth tre të katërtat, ndërsa gati një e treta e popullsisë emigroi jashtë vendit.
Përpara arrestimit të Maduro-s, më shumë se 45 për qind e të anketuarve thanë se trishtimi ishte emocioni i tyre kryesor ndaj situatës në Venezuelë, sipas Ríos. Këtë javë, kjo shifër ishte afër 20 për qind. Vetëm 11 për qind thanë se kishin ndërmend të largoheshin nga vendi, nga rreth 20 për qind vitin e kaluar.
Chavistët rrallë guxojnë të vënë në dyshim vendimet e Partisë Socialiste të Bashkuar të Venezuelës, qoftë nga frika apo nga disiplina partiake, por disa pyesnin nëse reformat në sektorin e naftës nënkuptonin se trashëgimia e Chávez-it po fshihej.
“Ne po shkelim trashëgiminë e Chávez-it; ai e nacionalizoi industrinë tonë dhe tani po ia dorëzojmë gjithçka kapitalit të huaj,” tha një demonstrues në një marsh të organizuar në Karakas në mbështetje të Maduro-s dhe bashkëshortes së tij Cilia Flores, e cila u arrestua gjithashtu nga forcat amerikane.
Qeveria e Rodríguez ka zhvilluar aktivitete të tjera për të përkujtuar Maduro-n dhe Flores-in, përfshirë instalimin e një kutie postare në sheshin qendror Plaza Bolívar në Karakas, që mbështetësit të mund t’u shkruajnë liderëve të rrëzuar. Pak letra janë depozituar./Përshtati “Pamfleti” nga “Financial Times”
"Paraqitje të fokusuara"!!!!! A mund të më thoni se çka dashur të thotë përkthyesi?