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Wow wow wow.
What a fiasco. I've argued before that this aid confrontation was a bad idea. But man, ramming this through amidst molotov-throwing protesters was never going to work.
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What a fiasco. I've argued before that this aid confrontation was a bad idea. But man, ramming this through amidst molotov-throwing protesters was never going to work.
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The notion behind the aid standoff was that the military could be convinced not stand in the way of a legit effort to help suffering Venezuelans. Aid would drive a wedge between Maduro and his security forces.
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In practice, this would have to mean persuading the individual security officers right there on that bridge to ignore orders and allow the aid to pass, despite the reprisals they may face.
That's a high bar.
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That's a high bar.
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To have a chance of working, the aid delivery has to go off without a hitch. Imperative to have a peaceful, non-threatening atmosphere that reflects the legit nature of the aid. Let the moral force of the aid speak for itself.
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A days-long build-up culminating in an atmosphere of protests and molotov cocktails does precisely the opposite. The decision point facing those individual border guards is now not about allowing in peaceful aid; it's about crowd control and self-preservation.
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The security forces handled this indefensibly as well - firing on and gassing protesters. By that point there was no way the aid was going to get through. The window for negotiating through the border was closed.
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Bad enough to politicize aid; even worse to do it in such a clumsy and self-defeating way.
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