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I'm quite emotionally invested in Maduro's downfall.
This isn't Syria. Constant news of catastrophe there aren't just something I read about on my daily routine. Information on the human geography, factions and background of the conflict doesn't simply satisfy my curiosity. It isn't an exotic, far-away land of people I'll never meet with a completely different way of life.
Venezuela is Andine, and that's already culturally a leap from Platine America, which is in turn different from Brazil. But as much as I like to distance myself from the Hispanophones, I can't help but see my own society in theirs. The megalopolis in the mountains close to the sea, the sprawling plains with proud cowboys, the jungles, the church, America, the former colonial master, the Miami-loving upper class, the middle class, the slums, the races, telenovelas, cassava, the consumer goods, in all sorts of aspects there are strong parallels. The whole continent underwent more or less the same phases of history since the 19th century, and the Pink Tide and its aftermath are the latest. Lula and Chávez were of the same archetype with just different degrees of radicalism, "herbivore" and "carnivore" as it was used to be said. They behaved alike, ruled alike, coordinated their actions in a hemisphere-spanning network centered in Cuba and supported each other. To this day some people here vouch for Maduro.
Moreover, the crisis has gone beyond international news to directly impact my country, even if that has no day-to-day impact on my life. I know someone who knows someone else who interacts with refugees; that's a distant connection, but there is an impact nonetheless. That neighbor has cost us a lot, right now with the burden of migrants and previously in the billions of public money "invested" there by previous governments.
The crisis is, to some degree, our fault for putting in place a friendly Pink Tide party and letting it give moral, diplomatic and political support to Chavismo until just a few years ago.
This means I empathize with Venezuelans, particularly those of a similar social position to mine, in a way I never could with Syrians. And it means I live with the chilling thought that it could have happened here. Realistically I know it wouldn't because the balance of political forces wouldn't have allowed it but seeing all of that happening in a similar society to similar people is unnerving.