Military pledges support for Maduro's candidacy

[Bacchus4.0]

Not the article title but check out what the recently appointed Defense Minister said. We've been told Ven has the freest and fairest elections in the world. really????




In a late night tweet, Venezuelan state-television said Defense Minister Adm. Diego Molero had pledged military support for Maduro's candidacy against likely opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, despite a constitutional mandate that the armed forces play a non-political role.
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http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/even-after-death-hugo-chavez-gets-choice-of-successor-339158

[Zorro]

1. Rangel Silva is the kingmaker here

I think he's throwing his support behind Maduro, and Capriles is probably being recruited by the opposition (no doubt against his will, because he's smart enough to know that there's a lot of emotion and sentiment involved in the upcoming election). Cabello is laying low.

However, if it does seem that Capriles does have a fighting chance to win the election, I would not be surprised to see Rangel put a stop to it -- talking military coup here. It would be a controversial action, since I think the Venezuelan military isn't nearly as Chavista as presumed.

There may be some hard times ahead in the immediate future for Venezuela as they transition to a post-Chavez era. We'll see.

[Bacchus4.0]

2. yeah, it would be extremely difficult for the opposition to assume power

not that they would let Capriles assume power anyway. It would be actually better to have Maduro serve out the term politically speaking for Capriles. Let the chavistas continue to screw things up over the next few years and let emotions subside. He is 40 years old, no hurries.

[Marksman_91]

3. Kinda unconstitutional to have a chief of the Armed Forces to pledge himself before one party...

The Armed Forces are supposed to uphold the constitution and protect the people, not get involved in politics. Then again, all of Chávez's lackeys care about is staying in power, so they'll do whatever they can, even trample on the constitution, to not let go.

[naaman fletcher]

4. The wording matters

The defense secretary is a political position and of course he has his political views. It's not clear to me if the career military has taken a stance on the election.