Venezuelan President Maduro and his wife are being arrested and taken to the United States. (SBS capture)
After President Maduro’s arrest, Venezuela is entering a phase of ‘control’ rather than ‘liberation’.
It is becoming routine for armed militias to replace street order, and for citizens to endure cell phone censorship and random searches.
Although outsiders talk about restoring democratic order, inside there are evaluations that fear is operating as an administrative tool.
The key to this change is not a change of regime, but a change in the way power operates.
■ Street order is replaced by military control
Analysis suggests that what has taken place throughout Venezuela after Maduro’s arrest is a new control method rather than a new government.
Armed militias on motorcycles patrol the city center, and vehicle checks and cell phone checks have become routine.
These are pro-Maduro armed groups called ‘colectivos’, which operate in parallel with the existing national security system.
It is pointed out that inspections function as a procedure to check political alignment rather than to prevent crime.
If a message supporting Maduro’s arrest is found on a cell phone, it is subject to arrest, and in one case, about 10 journalists were arrested.
Interior Minister Cabello, known as a hardliner, is speaking. (SBS capture)
■ Under the slogan ‘Find Traitors’, strengthened internal crackdown
The person who openly leads the armed forces is Interior Minister Cabello, who has been called the ‘action leader of the regime’.
They chanted “Loyalty is order” at public rallies and claimed that 100 people were killed due to U.S. intervention.
It is interpreted as a message that blames the confusion on the outside and defines internal doubt as betrayal.
Interim President Rodriguez’s sudden dismissal of the head of the Presidential Security Service is analyzed in the same context.
As suspicions were raised that there was a secret connection with the United States, personnel appointments were made before explanations.
Some interpret it as a signal that the standard of loyalty depends not on the law but on the government’s perception.
■ The United States has intervened, and demands for democratic restoration are being put on hold.
The United States stated that “social stabilization is the first step” after Maduro’s ouster.
However, methods of stabilization include inspections, arrests, and control of militias.
Conditions for restoring democratic order, such as the release of political prisoners, a schedule for elections, and restoration of press freedom, have not been put forward as official demands.
In response, criticism is raised that oil interests and geopolitical interests are becoming the center of intervention, and citizens’ rights are being pushed to a lower priority.
It is pointed out that although diplomacy has intervened, political responsibility is being withheld.
■ Venezuela is now run by fear, not law.
Analysis suggests that Venezuela’s current problem is not a regime vacuum but a change in governance.
The assessment is that power still works, but the method has shifted from law to fear.
It is a structure where inspection becomes administration, loyalty becomes qualification, and silence becomes safety.
Although this system may appear stable in the short term, some say it is closer to freeze than order.
The state is functioning, but citizens are excluded, and the government exists, but representation is weakened.
■ This situation shows common challenges after regime change
This situation is not a problem of one country, but is also interpreted as an example showing how weak the premise that a change of government leads to the restoration of democracy is.
It is possible to overthrow power, but restoring order is a completely different matter.
External intervention can make a difference, but it does not guarantee direction.
In Venezuela, guns are now replacing the law, and silence is replacing diplomacy.
The longer this situation lasts, the more difficult democratic restoration may become.
The regime has changed, but power has not been dismantled.
That gap now lies between the armed forces on the streets and the voiceless citizens.
JIBS Jeju Broadcasting Reporter Kim Ji-hoon (jhkim@jibs.co.kr)
