First of all: we need to be cautious. Maduro is going to cling to power a little bit more. This is not 1989 Eastern Europe. Venezuela is not Czechoslovakia, Putin is not Gorbachev who cared about human rights and stuff but rather an ex KGB who feels humiliated by the West and China's GDP is more than 20 times what it was back then and it is a country looking for good colonies. There are lots of people around Maduro who are not only guilty of crimes against humanity but also a lot who are actually involved in drug trafficking and other stuff that might have repercussions even if the new government puts in place a very generous amnesty law. Big Chavistas know they might not have such a quiet life as their counterparts in Eastern Europe back in the nineties because they have made enemies everywhere.
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| Yanukovich lives close to Moscow but he speaks Russian better than Maduro, Cabello or Flores |
Let's see Maduro's options very soon:
1) Staying in Venezuela as a normal citizen: this would mean he would need to have lots of security guards around him all the time and yet he won't be able to move much: even if no one would touch him, he would be booed everywhere he went all the time, at the very least.
2) Going to Cuba: a lot of people take this as the more likely option but they forget Cuba's regime is largely counting on Venezuela's blood to survive. When Chavismo falls - and it will fall - Castristas will have other concerns. They definitely do not want Maduro there.
3) Going to Mexico: this might be an option if Maduro decides to go to some hacienda in some remote area of Mexico and the current president, lefty Obrador, gives him also protection round the clock.
4) Going to some country in Western Europe: this is possible but probably less so than option 3. First of all: Maduro and his people would not be able to keep up with their lifestyle without getting noticed and Venezuelan expats would make his life difficult: Cilia Flores would not be able to go shopping just lik that in the streets of Zurich or Paris. There are too many Venezuelans there and we live in the Age of the Mobile.
5) Going to Russia: this seems like an option as there are fewer Venezuelans there, Putin still has control of the country even if his popularity is going down. Still, I still cannot picture him spending his days in Moscow or Saint Petersburg, surrounded by mostly Russian speaking people.
6) The same goes for Belarus but much more so than Russia.
We need to try to picture all this so that we can understand Maduro´s state of mind. Take into account that this is also in the minds of dozens and dozens of other Chavistas.
I am currently not saying anything more. He has to go. Democracy must finally arrive to Venezuela as it arrived to the Czech Republic, to Estonia, to Eastern Germany. We need to show Maduro that if he tries to stay in Venezuela even though nobody wants him is going to be for him much worse than options 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 10000.
At this moment I think Maduro's best options are Mexico or Russia.