Meet the Rambo of Venezuela

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Meet the Rambo of Venezuela
(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The Wall Street Journal has a colorful profile of Angel Vivas, a retired general who has become something of a Venezuelan folk hero — albeit a heavily armed one — for standing up to President Nicolas Maduro, who is in the midst of trying to squelch widespread protests sparked by the country's flailing economy and his government's authoritarian tendencies.

Earlier this week, security forces were dispatched to Vivas' home in Caracas to arrest the 57-year-old for allegedly inciting the demonstrators, only to be met by a defiant, flak-jacket-clad Vivas wielding a semiautomatic rifle and a pistol. Maduro's forces, facing both the imposing Vivas and a decidedly pro-Vivas crowd, prudently decided to back down, leading to a new sobriquet for the retired general: Rambo.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Ryu Spaeth

Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.