The Trump administration agreed to start talks with one of the leaders of the criminal enterprises in Venezuela to increase pressure for Maduro's exit from power; the Associated Press reported on August 19.

On the other hand, the strategy in the dialogue in Barbados led by the Norwegian government, to get out of the governance crisis peacefully and democratically, is at a standstill.

Since 2004 the fundamental problem to defeat authoritarianism in Venezuela has been conceptual: the tendency to apply republican rules to restore the democratic rule of law in a context in which the mafia state or criminal enterprise does not fit.

This year the strategy of the democratic forces of the Bolivarian country and of more than 50 democratic governments that do not recognize the Maduro regime's legitimacy of origin has been the non-violent political struggle within Venezuela and the application of sanctions to individuals and legal persons, and Venezuelan state companies by allied governments such as the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Panama, Brazil and the United Kingdom; with the objective of producing a rupture of the command of the criminal enterprise and within the dictatorship structure.

This strategy has not yet achieved the exit of the usurper regime because Maduro and his allies (Russia, Cuba, China, Turkey, Iran, the National Liberation Army of Colombia, Sao Paulo Forum, criminal empires) have used an emotional dynamic by applying an asymmetric warfare, which seeks social control of the population; the erosion of the struggle and leadership of the democratic forces; and the fatigue and frustration of the international community.

Juan Guaidó and the allied governments lose by not achieving the political and democratic exit to the crisis in Venezuela, while Maduro and his allies win by surviving in the presidency of Venezuela and maintaining the operation of illegal activities throughout the country.

To the point that of the 20 years of the Chávez and Maduro governments, 17 have passed with dialogues between the authoritarian regime and the democratic forces (9 dialogue tables). Consequently, the organized crime in Venezuela has remained in power buying time through the dialogue - a praxis transferred to the Daniel Ortega regime in Nicaragua.

A recent example of the confrontation of the strategies used in Venezuela is the financial strangulation of the Maduro regime by the United States, and the replenishing of food and medicine in the urban areas of Venezuela, where 28,562,720 people live, equivalent to 82% of the population according to 2019 data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The United States Treasury sanctioned the Venezuela Central Bank in April because this financial institution was "crucial in keeping Maduro in power - even through its control of the transfer of gold by currency -". Almost a month later, the Maduro regime freed the exchange market, after 16 years of control and management without limits by the mafia state.

The liberalization of exchange control has allowed private banks to open their exchange tables without limits of amounts or rate controls. This action of the Maduro regime has generated the appearance of establishments with imported products known as "bodegones". They sell delicatessen food such as goat or buffalo cheese, different types of cuts of meat and lamb, a variety of almonds and nuts and many sweets, etc. Some of these products are also found in other retailers in low-income areas. The same happens with the supply of medicines. Pharmacies have their shelves stocked again.

It should be remembered that the lack of foreign currency, due to the fall in exports, and the financing of public spending, with the issuance of bolivars without support in the production of goods and services, have encouraged the shortage of food and medicines during Maduro's regime causing the great exodus of Venezuelans during the period 2015-2019 (5,000 people average daily).

Therefore, the measure that seeks to cut the financing of Maduro's inner circle resulted in the dollarization of the Venezuelan economy, accepting the free trading of currencies, which was under government control since 2003.

Today, manual labor charges his or her work on dollars or euros, which allows them access to food and medicine, especially in the urban areas. In the same way, it happens with the families that receive remittances, and the upper-middle and upper class of the country. Today these people represent half of the economically active population of Venezuela, 62.19% in 2018 according to the World Bank.

The gap occurs with those workers who receive a salary in bolivars, public employees and retirees, and those living in poverty. This group represents 38% of the people in Venezuela (31,160,000 inhabitants, according to FAO).

The estimate of currency trading in the Venezuelan economy is in the order of 14 billion dollars, of which 63% corresponds to lawful money (remittances and net oil exports) and the rest to money laundering, coming from illegal businesses such as drug, gas, minerals trafficking and bribery.

This example shows the ability of the mafia state to survive in power, given the strategy of financial strangulation. Therefore, the restoration of democracy in Venezuela requires that Guaidó and its allies, especially the United States, carry out an operation that defeats the mafia state once and for all. Otherwise, it will continue to subsist, regardless of the future of Venezuela.

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