Quico says: Not much of the day-to-day political give-and-take in Caracas interests me enough to blog about anymore. That said, today's statement by General Baduel was a no-kidding bombshell. The guy who undid the April 2002 coup says the proposed constitutional reform would amount to a coup d'état and notes the armed forces' obligations as "guarantors of the rule of law". Yowza.When Baduel takes a stand against a coup, people sit up and take notice.
Update: The government's reflexes aren't letting it down. It took about a third of a second for the Official knee to jerk and label Baduel a traitor. A pajarito put this comment in my inbox:
Can there ever have been, in the history of world politics, a leader with such extraordinarily bad judgment when it comes to choosing his closest collaborators? It would be different, perhaps, if they simply parted company on a matter of principle, but that - we are assured - is not the case. They were born traitors, just waiting for the right moment to stab the great leader in the back...Luis Miquilena - traitorJesus Urdaneta - traitorRaul Baduel - traitorAlfredo Peña - traitorFrancisco Usón - traitorLuis Velásquez Alvaray - traitorIsmael García - traitorFrancisco Arias Cárdenas - reformed (?) traitorJorge Olavarría - traitorHermann Escarrá - traitorHerma Marksman - traitorNedo Paniz - traitorPablo Medina - traitorManuel Rosendo - traitorEfraín Vásquez Velasco - traitoretc. etc....
How extraordinary that a man so astute in so many ways should have been so comprehensively - and repeatedly - deceived as to the moral fibre of his comrades.
