[whoisjuan]

They have the support of the military forces. So rioting doesn't work. It just gets you killed on the street with no repercussions for the government.

Also, the word "leader" implies that this is a legitimate democracy, which is not. Venezuela has an authoritarian corrupt government at best, a dictatorship at worst.

[NedIsakoff]

A wise leader once said: All things grow out of the barrel of a gun. According to the Marxist theory of the state, the army is the chief component of state power. Whoever wants to seize and retain state power must have a strong army.

[asdfasgasdgasdg]

I think the quote is actually, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun," per Google and Wikipedia. Is this part of Marxist theory, or Maoist? I genuinely don't know. I had always thought that Marx viewed the revolution as at least potentially peaceful, but I confess I have never read him.

[perilunar]

It was Mao Zedong

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_power_grows_out_of_t...

[asdfasgasdgasdg]

Ah, I know who it was. I was more asking whether he was reflecting a viewpoint from earlier Marxist theory, or whether it was a novel viewpoint of his.

[NedIsakoff]

I think he based it on reality rather than theory. Every communist government has use force to "maintain the revolution": USSR, Cuba, Venezuela, DPRK, China, Romania, etc.