LATE-STAGE SOCIALISM: As Maduro’s Venezuela Rips Apart, So Does His Military.

As Venezuela reels from a crippling economic crisis and deadly street protests, the military has often served as the guarantor of President Nicolás Maduro’s continued power over the country.

But daring challenges to his rule in recent weeks have laid bare a split within the military that could ultimately determine the nation’s fate: a growing number of officers are openly breaking ranks with the president and taking up weapons.

“They speak of resistance, now they think that the model is to use arms,” Cliver Alcalá, a retired Venezuelan general and government critic, says of those who have rebelled.

Venezuela has a history of coups and attempted overthrows at times of crisis, and many in the country now wonder if this is one of those times.

There aren’t any good outcomes left for Venezuela, just an array of options ranging from bad to worse.