WE JUST NEED THE ARMED FORCES: A plea from Venezuela.

Venezuela’s National Guard, whose support for President Nicolás Maduro has endured despite the country’s dire economic and humanitarian conditions, is beginning to show signs of a break. A budding insurgency within the force was quashed over the weekend, but not before the dozens of protesting guards used 21st century weapons – videos and social media posts stating they didn’t recognize Maduro as president – to rally support for their cause.

The article’s worth reading. My latest Creators Syndicate column which discusses the Venezuelan opposition’s diplomatic, political and information warfare successes also notes the opposition’s vulnerability to suppression by Maduro’s heavily armed thugs.

From the column:

There are rumors of internal Venezuelan military disenchantment. On Jan. 18, the Miami Herald published an article confirming disgust but added that no serving senior officer appeared to be “willing to lead an insurrection.”

That could change.

RELATED: Some background from 2010 on Hugo Chavez, Maduro’s fascist-socialist mentor.