Venezuela's perilous path to dialogue

When The Daily Beast asked me for another post, I decided to touch upon why it is so hard for Venezuelans from different sides of the aisle to...

Maduro saluda CaprilesWhen The Daily Beast asked me for another post, I decided to touch upon why it is so hard for Venezuelans from different sides of the aisle to sit down and talk. Much of it has to do with the toxic rhetoric that lies at the heart of the revolution, as I explain.

The value added:

Chávez defined the revolution both in form and substance. While he could be a chameleon on the international stage, he was never a man of dialogue on the domestic front. The instances when Chávez actually met with opponents were few, and some were rarely publicized. There are only a handful of pictures of Chávez and his opponents online. The tone that he set was that the opposition was not a force to engage with, but “fascist” “pigs” who had to be “crushed and pulverized.”

Now, human beings are rational. But even the most rational politician will find it difficult to deal with an opponent who repeatedly vows to “crush” you. While the lack of dialogue has many roots, the dehumanizing rhetoric at the heart of the revolution is one of its main causes.