Noel King

Well,

You know, some of it was well intended.

There was an effort at a kind of social welfare system that never really existed before.

On the other hand, a lot of it was ripped off.

There was a huge amount of corruption.

Who is Maduro's opposition?

When and how do they start to form inside of Venezuela?

Look, there's always been an opposition to el chavismo, which is the term given to the political movement that Hugo Chávez founded.

So the people that loved him called themselves chavistas.

Over time, they have been effective at grinding down most of the opposition.

Now, having said that, there's always someone who emerges from the Merc and bears their chest

To the regime and shakes their fist at it and in the past couple of years.

It's been this woman she's been around a while, but she's now emerged as the top dog of the opposition, you know the kind of saving grace of Non-chevista venezuela, and that's maria corina machado because maduro Has failed so far That he can disappear people he can

She campaigned vigorously and openly against Maduro.

was declared to be illegitimate on fairly specious grounds by the country's electoral tribunal, which is another way they neutralized the opposition.

Now, she's clever, and she's also very connected with Americans and other political groups outside.

And so, okay, I'm illegal?

Well, fine.

And she found a...

a retired former diplomat who wouldn't harm a fly and who nobody in Venezuela barely knew as her straw man candidate.