The Fall of a Strongman: Inside Maduro’s Last Days in Power (www.nytimes.com)
from breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca to world@lemmy.world on 25 Feb 22:09
https://lemmy.ca/post/60976493

The Venezuelan leader overestimated his strength and misread his exchange with President Trump in the decisive weeks before his capture by U.S. forces.

The United States threatened to attack Venezuela if Mr. Maduro didn’t resign. Still, people close to him said he repeatedly asserted that the Trump administration would not dare attack Caracas.

Mr. Maduro knew that spies were working against him and feared betrayal from inside his ranks. Yet, in late December, he told friends and allies he still had time to negotiate a deal to stay in power, or leave office at a time of his choosing, they said.

To Maduro’s entourage, a U.S. raid seemed far-fetched, people close to him said. When explosions ripped through the Fuerte Tiuna military base in Caracas on Jan. 3, some in his circle thought it was a coup, not an American attack.

It was a remarkable miscalculation by Mr. Maduro, an autocrat who had outwitted opponents again and again during his 13-year rule, holding onto power through electoral losses, mass protests, armed plots and assassination attempts.

MBFC
[Archive] (Soonish – archive.today is down)

Edit: The archive situation doesn’t look like it’s going to improve any time soon. I replaced the original link with a gift link.

#world