WHAT DOES THE VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION HAVE TO DO TO ADVANCE?

BY ABRAHAM LOWENTHAL AND DAVID SMILDE

The solid international recognition of Juan Guaidó's presidency does not change the fact that Nicolás Maduro controls the territory, public institutions, security forces, and resources. Therefore, the opposition must make a realistic effort to reformulate the conflict.

In 1986, Ricardo Lagos and other leaders of the socialist opposition to the regime of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile visited Felipe González, president of the government of Spain. The purpose was to discuss in detail his plans to overthrow the dictatorship. González told them that the opposition could not achieve change in Chile without first acknowledging that they were trapped at the bottom of a well. “First focus on getting out of the well, and then try to expand your influence, step by step,” González advised Lagos.

Read the full article in The New York Times.

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Abraham F. Lowenthal was the founding president of the Pacific Council and founding director of the Wilson Center’s Latin American Program and the Inter-American Dialogue, and currently serves as professor emeritus at the University of Southern California.

David Smilde is the Charles A. and Leo M. Favrot Professor of Human Relations at Tulane University, and a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America.

This article was originally published in The New York Times.

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Pacific Council.