On the Venezuelan Constituent Assembly's first day, a prominent opposition leader has been placed under house arrest recently (http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/04/americas/venezuela-assembly-first-day/index.html). Nonetheless, demonstrations and protests are occurring throughout Venezuela against the perceived corruption and fraud. What do you believe is the role of opposition leaders in the movement?
Aung Myo Htun ( Kelly)
Feb 24, 2018At the end this April 2018, the presidential election in Venezuela is coming. On the other hand, unclear problem is the constitutions of Venezuela will begin dictating six-year presidential term at 2019. It is unclear who from the fragmented opposition will stand against Maduro. He also announced that the country's main opposition parties would be banned taking part in elections. That is why, "a lot of people very worried", including members of the opposition who have been calling for "fair, transparent and internationally supervised elections which they believe could not take place before the end of the year" How do you also think that is a political change will become in Venezuela from this April election?
Opposition leaders act as the figureheads of the movement. Their faces are the ones you see on the frontlines of any protest or march and are the ones calling for action, therefore symbolizing the revolution, which is why they are targeted more than the people behind the scenes. It's for this reason why so many revolutionaries and civil rights leaders are assassinated (MLK, Malcom X, Gandhi, etc.), in the hopes that by getting rid of them, the movement can be stamped out.
That's definitely true. Do you believe that placing opposition leaders under house arrest can have the same effect? Nowadays, it seems as though more and more leaders and dissidents are placed under house arrest rather than being assassinated or even arrested.
I never thought about that, actually. I think that even if a leader gets assassinated, it doesn't necessarily mean the end of a movement, as there will always be someone else to step up into the role, so I'd assume the same could apply to someone who is put under house arrest. The main difference is with house arrest, the direct purpose is to keep the opposition leader isolated from the movement, and off television screens, whereas killing them only serves to stoke the fire instead of putting it out like intentioned. It could also be the case, however, that instead of just replacing the leader who is arrested, the people supporting the cause will also campaign to free the leader (i.e. Nelson Mandela).
That's a good point that you bring up! Do you believe that there enough people supporting the Venezuelan cause to free the opposition leaders currently under house arrest?