Chavismo is a Machine for Not-Negotiating

In my view, though, PSUV won’t negotiate because PSUV can’t negotiate. I don’t mean that for essentialist, the-scorpion-and-the-frog type reasons. Chavismo can’t negotiate because trying to negotiate with escuálidos is very much the kind of thing that would destroy regime coherence. Who are the people who make up the chavista elite? They’re people handpicked by Chávez for that role. But they’re not just the people Chávez originally tapped: they’re the people he tapped and who survived in the inner circle for over a decade. They’re the die-hards, the ones who never jumped the talanquera and never got purged. More…