海角大神

For years, political violence in Latin America has been rare 鈥� until this week. On Tuesday, a vicious brawl broke out in Venezuela鈥檚 National Assembly. A few opposition lawmakers were badly beaten by ruling party members after objecting to the dubious results of last month鈥檚 presidential election.

The brawl follows the killing of street protesters and the use of intimidation tactics against the opposition over its demand for an audit of the much-rigged April 14 vote.

If such violence continues, Venezuela could be ripe for a larger popular revolt aimed at restoring its badly damaged democracy. Yet, as the example of strife-torn Syria shows, pro-democracy leaders must resist any tendency toward violence. The surest way to victory in a democratic revolution is to split the ruling elite and the military by appealing to their conscience 鈥� not their fears.聽聽

This is the lesson of many 鈥渧elvet鈥� revolutions in recent decades, from the Philippines to the breakup of the Soviet Union to Myanmar (Burma) to Egypt. When a political opposition keeps the moral high ground with nonviolence, whistle-blowers emerge, soldiers refuse to shoot, army officers defect, and cronies of a despot switch sides, either to save themselves or their values. Meanwhile, other nations with duly elected leaders offer moral support.

This may be why the alleged winner of the Venezuela election, Nicol谩s Maduro, has been playing rough with the opposition ever since the election. Violence may not only scare off the protesters but it can possibly be made to look as if Mr. Maduro鈥檚 opponents started it.

So far he has not succeeded. As the handpicked successor to strongman Hugo Ch谩vez, who died in March, Maduro rules over a country that is demanding change after years of 鈥淐havismo鈥� mismanagement. Yet he still controls the main state institutions, including the vote-counting National Electoral Council.

His election opponent, Henrique Capriles, has wisely called for nonviolent tactics, such as the banging of pots in the street. He appeals to the court of public opinion by saying the protests are a struggle 鈥渇or truth against lies.鈥� And he鈥檚 riding popular resentment over the massive loss of integrity in each person鈥檚 vote.

Venezuela鈥檚 military, despite its close ties to Cuba, will be hard-pressed if ordered to shoot protesters. Many soldiers may recall the words of the 19th-century liberator Sim贸n Bol铆var: 鈥淐ursed is the soldier who turns the nation鈥檚 arms against its people.鈥�

A half century of creating democracies around the world has shown that power doesn鈥檛 always flow from the barrel of a gun but can spread from one person to the next if people stick to basic democratic principles 鈥� and nonviolence.