Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (C) plays the drums as he takes part in a ceremony to name a city street after late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Moscow July 2, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer
Nicolas Maduro, the hand-picked successor to Hugo Chavez controversially elected to Venezuela’s presidency in April, is having a good summer.
With his domestic opposition still raging at the squeaker of a victory, one that came as Maduro embraced all the power and trappings of the Chavez machine (which is to say, the state) to his obvious benefit, the Edward Snowden fiasco has offered a welcome respite. The transparency activist not only exposed American surveillance that serves as ideal fuel for the propaganda mills, but he has also taken refuge in Russia in search of a home, allowing Maduro to wax poetic about how he’s welcome in Caracas anytime.
And now, after the Tuesday fiasco in which four European nations (presumably fearing the wrath of the United States) refused to allow Bolivian President Evo Morales access to their airspace, fearing (incorrectly, as it turned out) that Snowden was on board, leaders across Latin-America are rising up in anger. That makes it tougher for Maduro’s domestic enemies to argue that he is simply manufacturing another nefarious plot, a tactic he inherited from his political godfather.
So expect to hear regularly from Maduro about this outrage in the coming months. Already, he has issued multiple Twitter missives lamenting the specter of America’s colonialist arrogance. ”I reaffirm my entire solidarity with Evo and from Venezuela we will respond to this dangerous, disproportionate and unacceptable aggression,” one read.
For now, Maduro is in Belarus, limiting his ability to make political hay of the affair. But the smart money is on a solidarity tour or some other PR stunt. There’s also the possibility that Maduro actually invites Snowden to take refuge in Venezuela, it being among the few countries that haven’t already refused him asylum. Either way, any opportunity to duck an explosive domestic debate by issuing broadsides against the nefarious U.S. will be latched onto. Maduro can’t help himself.
