Insofar as the rebels are concerned, their assets consist chiefly of a Potemkin Village of international endorsements from American allies and the American media. These are the so-called Sofa Samurai, which were supposed to be hailing the would-be success of "President" Juan Guaido as his civilian partisans appealed to the military to switch sides and align themselves with "the people."

Yet these wannabe Samurai never seemed to get off the sofa: ignored and jeered at by the military, they have focused their efforts on the American embassy in Caracas where an ongoing back-and-forth has been taking place, but only minor violence. The rebels were slated to march to the Embassy while cheering crowds were supposedly scheduled to greet them with flowers. None of that happened. Instead, the jeering continued and there was no break in the stand-off.