"[T]he fiasco has deepened discord within the U.S.-backed opposition, which has grown increasingly paralyzed by bitter internal disputes — including a split over the decision last year to explore the use of force against Maduro’s socialist government with Goudreau’s Florida-based company and other private security firms. Polls show opposition leader Juan Guaidó, recognized by the United States and more than 50 other countries as Venezuela’s rightful leader, bleeding public support."

"[T]he morning after annexation would be the crystallisation of an already unjust reality: two peoples living in the same space, ruled by the same state, but with profoundly unequal rights. This is a vision of a 21st century apartheid."