Our team traveled to 6 Venezuelan states despite the lockdown & gas shortages to speak to provincial chavistas who were punished for speaking out about the injustices of Maduro's government. Thanks to @IsayenHG @surdaneta @tibisayromero @Adriaventuras. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/world/americas/venezuela-maduro-critics-repression.html?smid=tw-share

It was difficult, painstaking work because these people usually fall through the cracks of Venezuelan media coverage. They distrust those they see as their class enemies, they are difficult to reach amid the blackouts and gas shortages & they live in fear of repression.

The policy is shaped in Caracas but decisions to suppress individual provincial dissidents rarely come from central authorities. Instead, feeling under siege, local PSUV officials are reacting with increasing brutality against anyone questioning their privileges.

The latest Datanalisis poll shows PSUV is supported by just 10% of Venezuelans, even below the approval rating of Maduro and Luis Parra!

The recurring theme is corruption & injustice. Maduro's disorderly economic liberalization created a dissonance between the rhetoric of socialist struggle & the blatant privileges of the governing elite. This gap is now too difficult to ignore even for the most hardened communist

The flash point that turns discontent into criticism is usually gasoline. The gas stations are among the few public places where the PSUV/military elite cross paths with common Venezuelans. The new SUVs without licence plates, the privileged pump access are too glaring to ignore.

The suppression of the dissident left is therefore a cost Maduro is paying for opening up the economy to keep the support of the military & business elites. It is the natural evolution of the process that has long stopped representing Venezuelan people.

In 1921, Soviet Russia reversed the most hardline economic controls to rebuild after the civil war and survive the isolation from European powers. A few years later, Stalin crushed Trotsky's Left Opposition against the reforms & consolidated power in a one-man dictatorship.

In Venezuela, the cost of suppression is being paid by the once loyal Communists, Tupamaros, PPT supporters and any rank and file PSUV members who speak out against the corruption they see on daily bases at the gas stations, quarantine checkpoints.

If you want to know more about Tupamaros and their role in Venezuela's "21st Century Socialism," I highly recommend this documentary about the colectivo by @andrewrosati on Amazon Prime https://www.amazon.com/Tupamaro-Guerrillas-Martin-Andres-Markovits/dp/B085R75D7Q/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tupamaro&qid=1605794073&sr=8-1