Momentum’s shameful refusal to condemn Venezuela’s Maduro

When young Venezuelan revolutionary Juan Guaido won the backing of Western leaders back in January, the political winds seemed to be blowing in his favour. Every politician from the White House to Brussels was lining up to endorse him as he declared the Maduro regime to be illegitimate. He was subsequently supported by the Venezuelan parliament as interim president, if only in name. But warm words of support from the West and from ordinary Venezuelans were never going to remove the biggest barrier standing in Guaido’s way: the Maduro-controlled military.

The momentum behind Guaido seemed to ebb throughout the spring. But now Guaido finds himself back in the world’s headlines. In a video posted online yesterday, Guaido announced the release of long-time political prisoner Leopoldo López who appeared alongside him, along with around a dozen military dissidents who had turned their back on Maduro. Together they called for a military uprising against the government – in other words, a coup.

Guaido’s decision to appear alongside López will not have been lost on Maduro.