What has happened in Venezuela is not a surprise to those who have read the magical realism stories of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and other famous Latin American writers. In this signature genre of Latin American literature, the writers blur the line between fantasy and facts, weaving magic into reality.

Maria Corina Machado is magic and Delcy Rodriguez is realism in the ongoing magical realism show of Venezuela choreographed by the US.

Maria Corina Machado, the Nobel Prize winner, had the fantasy of flying in an American magic carpet and landing on the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas after the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro by the American forces. Machado has been a relentless democratic activist fighting the Chavista dictatorship in the last two decades. She wanted to wipe out the Chavistas with the military help of US.

But the fact is that Delcy Rodrigues from the ruling Chavista (followers of Hugo Chavez who was president from 1998 till his death in 2013) regime has moved into the presidential palace. Machado has got a reality check from US president Donald Trump who ruled her out “as not having enough support or respect within Venezuela”. He chose to let Delcy Rodriguez, the vice-president under Maduro, to continue as acting president. Rodriguez is a better choice for Tump as he sets his sights on oil and other benefits. On the other hand, Machado’s takeover of power would have resulted in violent clashes between her party cadres and the Chavistas – resulting in bloodshed and instability. This would have complicated Trump’s agenda which was focussed on oil and not restoration of democracy, as imagined by Machado.

This was not the first ‘American Magical Realism Show’ in Venezuela.

The US had recognised Juan Guaido, another opposition leader, as the real president of Venezuela between January 2019 and January 2023. Washington D.C. refused to recognise Maduro, accusing him of rigging the 2018 election. Over 50 countries followed the US diktat (some willingly and some under coercion) and recognised Guaido as the legitimate president. Guaido assumed the role of president seriously, appointing cabinet ministers and ambassadors. He and his appointees as well as his US lawyers and collaborators swindled and spent hundreds of millions of dollars of Venezuelan government funds seized by the US government. Eventually, Guaido succumbed to the scandals of his regime and was dropped as useless luggage. But despite the de-recognition of Maduro, the US and other western governments continued to have official dealings with his government, despite the devious British refusing to hand over the Venezuelan gold in their Bank of England to him when Maduro wanted it back. The excuse was that UK had not recognised Maduro as the president. The Brits continued to deal with Maduro officially but have shamelessly held on to Venezuelan gold even now.

There was a brief magical realism show in May 2020 as well.

A group of ex-marine mercenaries of the US hatched a plan code-named “Operation Gideon”. They attempted a sea-borne raid, through boats which were to land in Venezuela, capture Maduro, take him to the US and claim the $ 15 million bounty which was the going rate announced by Washington D.C. at that time. The mercenaries were caught and some were killed and others jailed by Venezuelan authorities. The US  administration claimed that it was not an official operation but got these criminals released through quiet negotiations. They were back to the US in 2023. 

Who stole the Venezuelan election?

Maduro claimed to be the winner of 2024 election. Trump and Machado claimed that Edmundo Gonzalez was the winner and accused Maduro of stealing the election. Now Trump has ditched Gonzalez and Machado while jailing Maduro. Trump says he will run Venezuela. 

So, it will not be exaggeration to say that the real thief who has stolen the election is Trump. He refuses to give a timeline for election or transition and a digitally altered image he has posted says that he is “Acting President of Venezuela.” Restoration of democracy is not Trump’s priority. 

Trump says that the the interim government of Venezuela is “giving us everything that we feel is necessary. They’re treating us with great respect. We’re getting along very well with the administration that is there right now”. 

The fable of a monkey and two cats

Once upon a time, two cats were fighting over a piece of bread. Each wanted it more than the other. A monkey saw this and offered a solution. It brought a weighing scale and deliberately broke the bread into two unequal pieces and put a piece each on either side of the weighing scale. When one side weighed heavier it took a bite from that and put the rest on the scale. Then the other side was heavier and the monkey took a bite from the other side. Eventually the monkey finished the pieces on both the sides and the foolish cats were left hungry. Trump has done the monkey trick to Maduro and Machado.

Trump has announced that he will extract Venezuelan oil from its huge reserves. He has already begun to make money for the US by taking oil that has been under sanctions. He says that the US will obtain 30 to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil in the near future. He talks of a deal with the Venezuelan authorities whereby America would market all Venezuelan oil “indefinitely”. The proceeds “will be disbursed for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the US government”.  Trump adds that all the goods purchased for Venezuela in this way would be American.

Was Maduro a dictator in the classical sense?

One can say that Maduro was not a classical dictator like Augusto Pinochet Ugarte of Chile or Manuel Antonio Noriega of Panama. He did not have absolute powers and control over others in the regime. He was a just a public face of the collective leadership of the post-Chavez regime. He, for one, had less power than Diosdado Cabello, the interior minister, or Padrino Lopez, the defence minister and army chief or the Rodriguez siblings Delcy, his vice-president and her brother Jorge, the president of the national assembly. He could not take any major decisions without the approval of the other........

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