Venezuelans have seen this movie before, but Maduro should beware. This time, the ending could be different | CNN

Assistants show voting records and wave flags during a protest against the result of the presidential election on July 30, 2024, in Caracas, Venezuela. CNN — It happened in Caracas on June 9, 2016, when I was there to cover a series of violent protests that had broken out in Venezuela. That sunny day, as our CNN team was walking towards the building that houses the National Assembly for interviews, we noticed a group of men heading the same way from the opposite side of the street. “Hurry up!,” CNN en español’s correspondent in Caracas Osmary Hernández said.“I think thecolectivosare up the street.”We all picked up our pace and breathed a sigh of relief when we made it to the building.Colectivos are armed groups that function like a street gang, but are closely affiliated with the socialist government and often do their dirty work. Moments after we made it inside the building, Julio Borges, an opposition member of the assembly and its former president, arrived in bad shape.He had a bloo...