After the kidnapping of President Maduro and Cilia Flores on January 3, false stories were circulated in the mainstream media that the Chavista government was divided and that there were “traitors” within the government. An article in today’s NY Times titled “Divisions emerge among Venezuelans as revolutionary dreams fade” attempts to build on this story but fails to provide concrete evidence of tensions and infighting among Chavistas. The mainstream media said the same thing after Chavez’s death in 2013, predicting that Diosdado Cabello and Maduro would soon face off in a fight for leadership. It didn’t happen then, and there’s no evidence now that it will happen any time soon.
