“Why not credit an act of political courage when you see one?”
Do you really know her motives for saying this? I don’t and I think I’ll wait to see how this plays out longer term.
That flag speaks for itself. It's the pre-Chavez national standard of Venezuela, and people display it explicitly to protest Chavez.
It's analogous to holding up a "Don't tread on me" flag prior to the US Revolution.