The macabre example of the chavistas

Its increase is due to the lack of compliance and respect for the law. Unfortunately, force and violence have historically served as a means for many hotheads to impose their interests, their authoritarian ideas, to seize power and to subject coexistence and peace to their own desires and convenience. Knowing and understanding the history of humanity serves to understand the serious consequences of dictatorial and populist attitudes.

It is not a justification for assuming the repetition of criminal regimes as normal. The evolution of the civilised world has given us laws, norms, treaties, constitutions and a whole series of national and international agreements to regulate and guarantee coexistence between people.

The road travelled has been a hard and bloody one in all ages. In the last century the world suffered two world wars with devastating effects, millions of deaths and overwhelming destruction. Although some try to blame ideologies, religions, customs for the responsibility of this human dementia, the key factor was the fascist and then communist intention to impose their power and gain control of the resources and people of other countries.

Some authoritarian leaders used the economic and social crisis to use democracy to come to power and then exercise it for their own benefit and to maintain themselves at all costs.

On some occasions, international pressure from so-called liberal democracies with great political and economic clout ensured that temptations to break and break the law came to nothing and their protagonists were pushed aside.

In recent years, the problem of authoritarian populism has spread to countries as important as the United States, with Donald Trump still in the electoral race and judges postponing shameful sentences. And, in Venezuela, the Chavista dictators laugh at the world, supported by Russian, Chinese, Iranian and Cuban partners, and entrench themselves in power despite having lost the elections, under very unfavourable conditions for the opposition.

In exchange for lifting some sanctions, Biden negotiated electoral conditions, oil was needed on the market so that the price would not rise and Russia would benefit. Now he is considering how to force the Chavistas out. Shooting is not an option, but shutting off the oil tap controlled by an American company and stopping the military from getting paid could be. The macabre example of the Chavistas in power is an even greater degradation of what should be the rule of law that guarantees coexistence and peace.