Two recent events in Venezuela suggest that weeks of nationwide protests may not be the only threat to the government of President Nicolas Maduro. On Feb. 24, Tachira state Gov. Jose Vielma Mora, a member of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, publicly opposed recent government policies in his state, a bastion of the opposition. Vielma said the government's decision to send troops to quell unrest in Tachira state was a mistake even though the protests were disrupting commerce there. He also said that releasing political prisoners such as opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez and former police commissioner Ivan Simonovis was a necessary step toward resolving Venezuela's political crisis.

Four days earlier, an unidentified individual claiming to represent a dissident faction of the Venezuelan armed forces posted an anonymous audio recording to a Twitter account. The announcement claimed that military officers are ready to act against the government and that further protests by Venezuela's political opposition are needed to lay the groundwork for an eventual intervention.

These developments provide early evidence of public splits within Venezuela's ruling institutions, and such divisions are a telling indicator of the government's true stability. Since Hugo Chavez's incapacitation by cancer and subsequent death in 2013, an ad hoc committee of powerful political actors from Chavez's presidency has governed the country. Committee members include Maduro, National Assembly Speaker Diosdado Cabello, Planning Minister Jorge Giordani and Rafael Ramirez, the president of state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela. Active and former military officers also wield significant power and have occupied key spots in the government hierarchy.

The country's leaders have all supported Maduro publicly, particularly when the party needed to present a united front during presidential and municipal elections in 2013. However, these elites have competing interests. Faced with widespread public unrest and possible military intervention, they could reconsider their loyalties to safeguard their own positions.

Vielma's public condemnation of Maduro is particularly notable considering his political associations. He has close ties to a powerful political faction loyal to Cabello, the National Assembly speaker: Vielma was a member of Cabello's 1987 graduating class from the Venezuelan military academy, and from 2000 to 2008 he ran the country's national tax service, which is now run by Cabello's brother. Vielma's criticism thus raises the question of whether Cabello, too, believes Maduro has mismanaged the protests — and whether a rift is forming within the governing elite.

The audio recording supposedly warning of a coup represents a far more dubious threat, albeit a potentially serious one. The severity of the threat would depend on how many soldiers are dissenting. Mounting a military coup in Venezuela is thoroughly challenging. Dissenting military personnel would have to secure airports, highways, government buildings, media outlets and military installations throughout the country. They would also need to seize key energy infrastructure, such as oil refineries, to prevent sabotage by loyalists. The coup plotters would also have to muster enough troops and equipment to fend off potential reprisals. It is not yet clear that the military faction, if it even exists, is large enough to accomplish any of these feats.

However, the government's silence on the issue is telling. Instead of exploiting the announcement for propaganda purposes, as is tradition, the Venezuelan government has chosen not to comment publicly. This could mean that the government is concerned about the recording or that it believes the warning to be disingenuous.

While the coup threat remains unconfirmed, it highlights a challenge endemic to the Venezuelan government. The armed forces have regularly intervened in national politics, most recently in an April 2002 coup attempt. In response, the government created "colectivos," political groupings deployed to attack the opposition, and the Bolivarian militias — civilian militias beholden to the military for equipment. After 2003, the government allowed the Cuban military and intelligence services unprecedented access into the management, supervision and training of the Venezuelan armed forces.

The presence of the Cubans sowed discontent within the military that may now be surfacing. In the past few weeks, rumors have emerged that Cuban military reinforcements have arrived in Venezuela to help quell the unrest. Venezuelan security forces are not yet overburdened or spread thin by the unrest, so it is unlikely the Cubans are directly participating in crackdowns on protesters. However, Cuban soldiers may be fulfilling specific tasks related to the administration and coordination of the Venezuelan security forces. If there are, in fact, additional Cuban soldiers in Venezuela, it could be a sign that the government no longer trusts the Venezuelan military as it once did.

Maduro has few options to deal with the protests or internal dissent from political and military elites. He cannot resolve the systemic economic distortions, high crime and rampant inflation — the principal drivers of the protests — that he inherited from Hugo Chavez. And he cannot suppress dissent without inciting more protests. Purging the military to ensure loyalty presents an even greater threat; if there were a coup in the offing, a purge would only accelerate the plot.

With the government unable to act decisively, protests in Venezuela will likely continue for the foreseeable future. If Maduro cannot rein in the violence, he could lose legitimacy among the population, even among his own support base. If the colectivos, which are playing a role in perpetuating the violence, kill too many protesters, he could lose political support. If he loses support, the ruling party or the military could move to replace him. Of course, these are extreme scenarios, but if anything the events of the past week show that party support for Maduro's rule is tenuous, and the loyalty of the military in Venezuela's fragile governing coalition may now be in doubt.