Home » Venezuela’s decline: the military hold the key

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Venezuela’s decline: the military hold the key — 49 Comments

  1. “Coup” isn’t quite the word for this to my sense of things. Popular uprising is closer, though perhaps still not quite fit. Almost a Venezuelas’ “Bastille Day”, but without the Bastille to justify the term. And more to the point, it isn’t over, won’t be over for months most likely. I dunno, but I wish the self-liberators all the good fortune and success they can take.

  2. There’s this from February 21st re Bernie Sanders and Venezuela: ” ‘He is not going to be the nominee’: Dems slam Sanders over Maduro stance”

    “He is not going to be the nominee of the Democratic Party. He has demonstrated again that he does not understand this situation,” Rep. Donna Shalala, a Miami Democrat who represents Venezuelan exiles and, told POLITICO. “I absolutely disagree with his imprecision in not saying Maduro must go.” Shalala has filed legislation aimed at helping Venezuelan immigrants. …

    Sanders did not embrace Maduro in his Tuesday interview with Univision’s Jorge Ramos, who quickly touched on Guaidó being declared the interim president of Venezuela by the nation’s National Assembly following Maduro’s questionable election.

    But when he was asked whether he recognized Guaidó as the legitimate leader of the country, Sanders answered, “No.”

    “There are serious questions about the recent election. There are many people who feel it was a fraudulent election,” Sanders added.

    In a follow-up question, Ramos asked Sanders if he thought Maduro is a dictator who should step down. Sanders refused to say yes or no.

    “I think clearly he has been very, very abusive,” Sanders replied. “That is a decision of the Venezuelan people, so I think, Jorge, there’s got to be a free and fair election. But what must not happen is that the United States must not use military force and intervene again as it has done in the past in Latin America, as you recall, whether it was Chile or Brazil or the Dominican Republic or Guatemala.”

  3. Bernie will not be the Dem nominee.

    All the Bernie Bros and all the Bernadettes can just forget about it.

  4. Hugo Chavez’s rise to power was around the same time frame, and used similar tactics as a couple other leaders: Evo Morales in Bolivia, and Rafael Correa in Ecuador.

    Some time later, Manuel Zelaya in Honduras nearly pulled off another dictatorial switch. Appallingly, Hillary Clinton called Zelaya’s constitutional arrest a coup d etat.

    In a more recent bizarro reversal, Ecuador’s Correa stepped down while installing his hand picked successor Lenin Moreno as president, only to discover that Lenin was a closet conservative who began by dismantling some of the dictatorial powers. What is the world coming to? You can’t even rely on a strong arm dictator to remain true to their corrupt system.

  5. In 1944, Friedrich Hayek warned in The Road to Serfdom that tyranny inevitably results when a government exercises complete control of the economy through central planning.

    Won a Nobel prize disproving Marx…

    but why would feminists who are all for a communist state let the kids learn that?
    they are too busy instilling revolutionary fervor into grade school kids who wont know anything else.

    but the fun part?
    they don’t care they are ruining the kids future… that such people wont be able to fit in and work in any normal way in any organized way, without thinking any of it is what? they have dreams of revolution making Venezuelans to help the world, not make products, medicines, and more…

    because everything changes for the leaders once the state changes
    the point isnt the point… the spravka is for consumption tovarish..

    in the time it took from Obama term start to the next election. most grade school kids are now able to vote in the next election… so, did ya pay attention to people warning you what was going on in the grade schools with the feminists and unions and so on? when did you think they would grow up?

    if you study this kind of history, you will find the military is always the ruling force
    or rather the force behind the rules..
    and a whole lot of the time, they are the ones who change minds and remove despots, or let them be removed by being busy someplace else.

    Venezuela is not actually having a coup

    Maduro is securing his rule… this is not a coup…
    he will be stronger when he comes out…

    Or do you think the contingent of Spetznaz that just arrived are not there for this?

    IF this happened before they arrived, i might easily say coup…
    but this is happening AFTER they arrived, so this is probably not a coup…
    its a false coup to provide cover so that the key people disappear
    What did you think happened when the north k had control during Tet?

    Russian military arrive in Venezuela to discuss ‘training and strategy’
    This article is more than 1 month old
    Arrival of up to 100 soldiers in Caracas signals Moscow’s support for embattled Maduro

    The explanations by officials for the visit came after a Russian-flagged cargo plane and an airliner were spotted at Maiquetía airport outside Caracas guarded by a contingent of Venezuelan national guardsmen.

    A Venezuelan official said the aircraft arrived this weekend as part of ongoing military cooperation between the two allies. An unnamed Russian official told the state news agency RIA Novosti that there was “nothing mysterious” in the visit.

    [snip]
    Before Monday, both planes, an Il-62 and an An-124, had made regular trips from a Moscow military airport to a Russian airbase in Syria.

    Mayorca said about 100 Russian soldiers led by Gen Vasily Tonkoshkurov, head of the mobilisation directorate of Russia’s armed forces, disembarked along with about 35 tons of equipment.

    Now i been warning about this and other things way before this..
    How many TACTICAL nuclear weapons can exist in 35 tons of examined “equipment”
    Any idea of what 100 spetznaz can do?

    remember… 2 months before that, they had military exercises together…

    so, do you think there is a coup going on?

    probably.. but i dont…
    only time will tell

  6. “Chávez’s socialist agenda purported to be in service of the entire nation, but as Hayek reminds us, “the pursuit of some of [the] most cherished ideals . . . [produces] results utterly different from those which we expected.”

    I experienced a variation on this theme in a conversation with a friend several months ago. We were having an unheated political conversation and I made some mild but ad hominem slight against Marxism, which triggered him.

    He had actually read Das Capital and there was nothing especially objectional anywhere in the book, plus it explicitly talks about caring and looking out for the people in general and the “little people” specifically. This is so much better than capitalism which makes no explicit effort to care for the disadvantaged, and clearly encourages greed.

    Where to begin, with a response? I mentioned that Das Capital espouses a production-labor-value pricing model for economies, that is extraordinarily destructive. I suspect I was talking over his head. Besides, all that doesn’t matter because the crux is simple: Marxists care and capitalists don’t.
    _____

    Most of us here probably have heard one of Oliver Stone’s [a Chavista] great bits of cinema, the Gordon Gekko “greed is good” speech. I stumbled across a reference to Bernard Mandeville recently. I haven’t dug into Mandeville with any seriousness yet, but he wrote about how private vices, such as envy, can become public virtues when shaped by societal and economic pressures.

  7. TommyJay:

    Where to begin with your friend is to recommend that he read Thomas Sowell, particularly a book such as The Quest for Cosmic Justice. Sowell explains better than anyone, and the book is quite short, and he wouldn’t even have to read all of it. It’s possible to get the gist of it quite quickly.

  8. Pres. Trump, 5:09 pm today: https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1123333508078997505

    “If Cuban Troops and Militia do not immediately CEASE military and other operations for the purpose of causing death and destruction to the Constitution of Venezuela, a full and complete embargo, together with highest-level sanctions, will be placed on the island of Cuba. Hopefully, all Cuban soldiers will promptly and peacefully return to their island!”

  9. sdferr beat me to it with mention of Stalin Gonzalez. Stalin Gonzalez was a prominent student leader about a decade ago, who advanced to the National Assembly.

    It’s a pretty good bet that if your parents name you Lenin/Stalin/Vladimir etc. , you are a red diaper baby with red parents. Some red diaper babies do not follow in the footsteps of their parents, such as Lenin Moreno or Stalin Gonzalez.

    Some do follow in the footsteps of their red parents. Consider these Venezuelan examples.
    1)Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, a.k.a. Carlos the Jackal. (after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin)
    2)Vladimir Padrino López, Defense Minister in the Maduro government
    Vladimir Padrino Lopez with Fidel Castro. (Granted, I am speculating about his parents, but I would consider it a valid speculation.)

    The Chilean author Ariel Dorfman was named Vladimiro Ariel Dorfman. No accident there, considering his Red father.

  10. Venezuelans clash with pro-Maduro Code Pink activists in tense scene outside DC embassy
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/venezuelans-clash-with-pro-maduro-activists-embassy-in-dc

    Dozens of supporters of opposition leader Juan Guaido converged Tuesday on the now-shuttered Venezuelan embassy in Washington, clashing with pro-regime activists who have been camped out at the building for weeks in support of embattled Nicolas Maduro.

    [snip]

    In Washington, flag-waving and national-anthem singing demonstrators, many of whom were born in Venezuela, quickly outnumbered those from the anti-war group Code Pink gathered to support Maduro’s regime.

    [not feminist group code pink, but anti war, live with your communist leader American lady feminists. ]

    “This group – the Code Pink – has taken the embassy,” Gandullia said. “We want to enter. We want to take over. And demonstrate that it belongs to us.”

    Activists from Code Pink, which protests U.S. support for Guaido, have been living and protesting at the embassy for weeks.

    On Tuesday, the organization asked supporters to “join us to uphold international law and protect the Venezuelan embassy from a hostile takeover.” Elliott Abrams, the U.S. envoy for Venezuela, has said the group is breaking the law.

    Hegel is laughing his arse off….
    Will the government side with the growing more relevant invited Spanish population?
    or
    Will the government side with the no longer relevant declining feminists?

    Two Code Pink protesters standing at the door of the embassy on Tuesday held a sign that said: “Hands off Venezuela.” Another sign hanging from the building read: “Nicolas Maduro is the president.”

    “The Venezuela coup attempt is the Trump administration trying to overthrow the government of Nicolás Maduro in order to steal Venezuelan oil,” Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin tweeted Tuesday.

    original… so, that’s what your going with ladies?

    Meanwhile, pro-Guaido protesters came to confront the Code Pink activists, holding signs like “Venezuela wants Democracy, not another Cuba.” In interviews, these protesters emphasized that they are from Venezuela – unlike many of the Code Pink protesters.

    [snip]

    They are communists, socialists with Maduro,” he added. “I’m anti-Maduro. And I’m here representing my people.”

    ah. ok. so the ladies will accept that they have no say because they are not venzeualan the way men have no say cause they are women, and, well, you get the picture as the other examples are quite common.

    “We’re here today to denounce the trespassing of Code Pink,” said Carla Bustillos, 39. “This is a property of the people of Venezuela. It’s an asset of the nation, and the nation is now facing a transition, a transition to democracy.”

  11. Heh, I met Dorfman back in the day. Wasn’t . . . favorably impressed, though I did laugh a heap at his Scrooge McDuck folly.

  12. Protesters are run over by Maduro’s armoured vehicles as gunfire breaks out, sending civilians running for cover after Juan Guaido calls for military uprising, sparking clashes with pro-regime troops

    Juan Guaido called for uprising against Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday from the La Carlota airbase in Caracas
    Guaido made the announcement surrounded by troops who then began setting up a defensive perimeter
    Maduro’s forces fired tear gas before a heavy exchange of gunfire, with protesters caught in the middle
    Video footage shows a Venezuelan National Guard armoured vehicle plough into a group of protesters
    Trump administration backs Guaido and his uprising while Putin backs Maduro in talks with top officials
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6975871/Venezuelas-Juan-Guaido-calls-military-revolt-final-phase-overthrowing-President-Maduro.html

  13. It also emerged today that Maduro was ready to leave Venezuela but Russia convinced him to remain in the country, according to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

  14. Neo,

    Yes, the name is Lenin Moreno, though there are 1 or 2 Spanish (Portuguese?) accents in the name Lenin that I failed to reproduce. It’s a hoot though isn’t it. One wonders if something that trivial actually had a semi-major impact on human history? Or if it was a conscious ploy on Mr. Moreno’s part, if it wasn’t a birth name?
    ___

    Thanks for the Sowell reference.
    I’ve read a number of Sowell’s op-eds, but the only treatise of his that I’ve read is
    entitled “Trickle Down Theory and Tax Cuts for the Rich” which is extremely short and very good.

  15. sdferr
    Heh, I met Dorfman back in the day. Wasn’t . . . favorably impressed, though I did laugh a heap at his Scrooge McDuck folly.
    It took Dorfman 25 years, but he finally came to realize that the main cause of Allende’s fall was that Allende and his socialist programs did not have the support of a majority of the Chilean people. From Heading South, Looking North: A Bilingual Journey. (1998)

    It was not a question that would go away, it demanded a collective answer from all Chileans who had supported Allende as well as an individual answer from each of us. That black hole devouring us would not disappear by stubbornly and nostalgically reiterating and validating the past, because that past was responsible for this future we were living, and until we recognized that responsibility, our responsibility in the catastrophe, there would be no change. We could blame the CIA, the United States, the oligarchy, the military,all we wanted, but they would never have prevailed if we had been able to get the majority of Chileans behind our reforms. That had not been the case, however, and unless we now built the vast coalition that we had failed to build during the Allende years we would never rid ourselves of Pinochet; he would stay in power as long as the past continued to divide us.

    The reason Dorfman has stayed in the US is that a US college campus- he taught at Duke- is more congenial to his lefty views than Chile.

  16. Tommy Jay, his parents named Lenín Moreno.
    Wiki: Lenín Moreno.

    Lenín Moreno was born into a middle-class family in Nuevo Rocafuerte, a small town in the Ecuadorian Amazon, near the Peruvian border. His father, Servio Tulio Moreno, was a teacher who promoted bilingual education and integrated schools for Indigenous children and mestizo children. His parents named him after their favorite authors; his father idolized Vladimir Lenin and his mother liked Voltaire, although an error in the civil registration turned his middle name into Boltaire.[5][6] He moved to Quito with his family when he was 3 years old.[7]

    When I worked in Venezuela, I was surprised to meet some people named Lenin. Which wasn’t the first and wasn’t the last thing that surprised me about life south of the border.

    Though being named for both Voltaire and Lenin would indicate that Lenin Moreno wasn’t raised in a completely Red household.

  17. a YouGov poll commissioned by the Centre for Independent Studies last year, 58 per cent of Australian millennials have a favourable view of socialism, with only 18 per cent having an unfavourable one.

    Millenials are aged 25 – 39. In Australia four out of five are not even “familiar” with Mao. Half have never heard of him, even though he caused the deaths of twice as many people as Adolf Hitler.

    According to the CIS poll, only 26 per cent of Millennials are familiar with Vladimir Lenin and 34 per cent with Joseph Stalin. Only 21 per cent of those questioned said they knew well who Mao was. Never mind that these men were responsible for the deaths of tens of millions and the impoverishment of hundreds of millions.

  18. As Code Pink leader Medea Benjamin lived in Cuba for 4 years- her big mouth got her booted out of Cuba- one should not be surprised at Code Pink’s backing of the Maduro regime.

  19. Some examples of the state confiscating weapons from citizens:—

    Russia—Guns were abundant and widely available in Tsarist Russia, but immediately after the Communist Revolution, in 1918, the Bolsheviks began large scale confiscation of civilian firearms, outlawing their possession, and with a penalty of 10 years in jail for concealing a gun. Hunters were allowed to keep smooth bore rifles, but had to get strictly regulated gun licenses issued by Stalin’s NKVD.

    Russia also initiated confiscation of guns in each one of the countries that it absorbed into the U.S.S.R.

    Germany—Hitler becomes Chancellor in January 1933.

    By October 1933 documents are circulating in NAZI government about gun possession to be banned for people who were “persons dangerous to security,” while, on the other hand, members of the NAZI party were to have more access to guns.

    By the next month, November, 1933, NAZI government documents were saying that, “The prerequisite for any relaxation of the current firearm law, however, is that the sentencing and police authorities proceed with merciless severity against any possession of a weapon by any enemy of the people and the state.”

    By 1938 the euphemistic term “enemies of the state” had been dropped, and Himmler’s November 10, 1938 law said that, “Persons who, according to the Nurnberg law, are regarded as Jews, are forbidden to possess any weapon. Violators will be condemned to a concentration camp and imprisoned for a period of up to 20 years.”

    And we all know what happened to the Jews and the enemies of the state after that.

    China—Gun confiscation immediately after the Chinese Communist victory in 1949.

    Cambodia—1920—restrictions on carrying guns instituted by the French, 1938—gun licensing, 1953— “gun possession for self-defense, target shooting, or collection was banned.”

    South Africa—2017—Government orders 300,000 gun owners to turn in their guns. This as the government is preparing to start to confiscate white farmers lands without compensation.

    Venezuela—Gun ownership banned by Hugo Chavez in 2012. Government seizures and also buy backs, swapping guns for electrical appliances.

  20. As some of you may know, I lived in Venezuela for a long time, and I continue to have friends and family there as well as financial interests. To say that today has been stressful doesn’t begin to describe it. I would like to add a couple of comments:

    1. Please do not use the word “coup”. Maduro ceased to be president when his previous term expired. According to the Venezuelan Constitution, the President of the National Assembly, in this instance, becomes Interim President while elections are held. We can call this an uprising, a rebellion, or an insurrection, but not a “coup”. It is a very important distinction for us and your assistance not helping to spread our enemy’s propaganda is appreciated.

    2. There are a lot of things going on behind the scenes here. A large part of the difficulty for Venezuelans is that is that this is a truly geopolitical conflict. The broad dividing line is the liberal democracies vs. the authoritarian dictatorships (Russia, Iran, Cuba, China, Syria, etc.). Venezuela is the current battleground, but Venezuela is not the most important player. As evidence, note Pompeo’s revelation today that Maduro was ready to get on the plane early this morning, but Russia told him to stay.

    I would also like to point out that the Trump Administration has invested a lot on the outcome of this struggle. If the U.S. fails to impose its will in Venezuela, it will lose a lot of credibility and clout in the world. So, while some of you may be wondering why you should even care about Venezuela, I assure that we do have a dog in that fight.

    If anyone has any specific questions about these events, I would be glad to try and answer them.

  21. Neo & Tommy Jay,

    It is fairly common in Latin America to name children after historical leaders in the world. It does not imply an approval or disapproval of any particular political ideology. I have also encountered men named Washington, Jefferson, & Wilson.

    I even heard about a guy named Hitler, but he ended up changing his name. Turned out his parents were simply ignorant of the connotations that name carried.

  22. Thank you, Roy. The folks in Venezuela are in a terrible situation, and I hope things don’t get even worse for them.

    And if we do anything other than turn our eyes elsewhere, you can be sure that the Usual Suspects will be harking back to our awful dreadful imperialist adventures in Viet Nam, Nicaragua and El Salvador, Chile, and on and on and on.

    .

    For more on Mizz Benjamin and her execrable female gang of anti-American hard-Left thugs (metaphorically, at least), see

    http://discoverthenetworks.com/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6149

    .

    Steve, thanks for the Stephen Coughlin video. He’s been fighting the good fight for nearly 15 years now

  23. This is hilarious and sad… “gun ownship is not…”. Well, bang your head against the wall until your tiny pre cortex dribbles down the wall. Some people need killing. It is a tender mercy.

  24. Once you allow them to diasarm you without a fight to the death, you are slaves. Decide how you want to die.

  25. Roy Nathanson

    It is fairly common in Latin America to name children after historical leaders in the world. It does not imply an approval or disapproval of any particular political ideology. I have also encountered men named Washington, Jefferson, & Wilson.

    Yes, one can find in Latin America some interesting names of children who have been named without any ideological intent. The Mainsanta database can be rather entertaining along those lines. However, the people with Red names that have been mentioned in this thread have been documented to have Red/lefty parents who quite deliberately named their children – with the exception of Vladimir Padrino Lopez, for which I have found nothing about his parents or childhood.

    1.Stalin González

    Sus padres fueron obreros, dirigentes sindicales y vinculados a movimientos populares de izquierda

    His parents were workers- union leaders- and linked to left wing popular movements.

    2. Lenin Moreno. Lenin was his father’s favorite author, according to the Wiki article. The Spanish Wiki article informs us that his father was a Senator and member of a leftist political party . So, he named his son with some knowledge.
    3. Carlos the Jackal, a.k.a Ilich Ramírez Sánchez. Red father
    4. Vladimiro Ariel Dorfman. Red father.

  26. Roy, say something of your impression of the significance of the release from detention of Leopoldo Lopez yesterday morning. Do you think that event had something direct to do with the early kickoff of the planned May 1 demonstrations? Too, how do you think Lopez figures in the government to come, beyond, that is, the current overthrow of the dictator and his cronies: is Lopez a man the Venezuelans can trust to lead the way in reconstruction of civil society and works? Or will his role be limited to legislative efforts? Where, in sum, does he project to fit in?

  27. Apparently, at this moment, our enemies believe that the Monroe Doctrine is inoperative, because Obama signaled its non-enforcement when in a 2015 speech in Panama he said,

    “The days in which our agenda in this hemisphere so often presumed that the United States could meddle with impunity, those days are past,”

    In fact, Tucker Carlson, whose viewpoint and ideas I usually find persuasive, was practically foaming at the mouth last night, at the prospect that the U.S. might possibly send troops to Venezuela.

    Carlson is, of course, against any foreign intervention by U.S. troops, and seemed particularly incensed that our use of sanctions against Venezuela might have caused U.S. gas prices to rise a few cents.

    Carlson may, indeed, be making some good points about the ineffectiveness, waste, and wrongheadedness of some of our interventions in the Middle East.

    But, there is a big difference between a U.S. intervention in the Middle East or Asia, and an intervention in our own Western hemisphere, effectively on our own doorstep, and much closer to home.

    According to reports, it seems as if every one of our enemies has sent some aid, military equipment and/or troops/advisors into Venezuela.

    According to reports, there are 20,000 Cuban troops in the country, there are hundreds of Russian troops along with lots of Russian arms, there is a contingent of Chinese computer/communications specialists, the Iranians are there, as are Hezbollah and other Muslim terrorist groups and, given this gathering of evil, there might even be a few ancient Nazis doddering around as well.

    The point is that we cannot allow this enemy/terrorist nexus to take root and then—as it will inevitably do—spread.

    We have to put a stop to it, to cut it out.

    We have to declare, re-institute, and to enforce the Monroe doctrine, to destroy our enemies beachhead in our Western Hemisphere, and if that means applying any and all sanctions we can against these enemies, even if it ultimately means sending U.S. troops to fight them, and to force these various enemy troops and advisors out of Venezuela, so be it.

  28. To further elaborate on my list above, of instances in which the state has confiscated guns from citizens–

    In the case of Germany, toward the end of its existence, the increasingly chaotic and violent Weimar Republic made the job of the NAZIs so much easier by the gun law they passed in 1931, which mandated the registration of all firearms, and the confiscation of firearms, if required for reasons of “public safety.”

    Thus, on their ascension to power–thanks to the Weimar Republic’s gun laws–the NAZIs already knew where all the guns were, and who owned them.

  29. sdferr,

    That is an excellent question, which you wouldn’t have asked if you did not already have significant knowledge of the situation. My knowledge, while good, is not at the level of an insider to the Opposition. So, while I will try to answer the question, understand that some of it is speculation.

    Lopez being free was highly symbolic in two ways. Firstly, it was possible only because it was permitted by SEBIN, one of the primary state security agencies, thus indicating a fracture in the loyalty of this organization. Secondly, Lopez leaving his house arrest signaled a “crossing of the Rubicon”. Neither he, nor Guaidó, nor many others can go backwards to leading any sort of normal life. Either they succeed this time, or they face life in jail or a firing squad. So, the message to the public is that this time there is no going back.

    As for Lopez’s role after the end of the usurpation and the restoration of constitutional order, I believe that much of the strategy and planning of the rebellion came from Leopoldo. In any future free and fair election, Leopoldo Lopez is the clear frontrunner for the first President of the restored republic. After overseeing new elections, it is Guaidó who will return to his role as a legislator.

  30. Snow on Pine,

    I agree and I would also point out that, in the light of history, we can now see exactly how much of an error it was to not fully enforce the Monroe Doctrine in the case of Cuba and the Russian meddling that allowed the Castro regime to survive for so long. Cuba has been, and continues to be a sort of cancer in the Americas. They have been subverting democracy in our region from the beginning and continue to do so. They are a sort of parasite that eventually kills its host. This must stop. Trump’s goal of an entire hemisphere free of this plague, if achieved, will put him in the history books as one of the best presidents ever.

    However, we need to be cautious about our methods. We must avoid a return to the past in our relationships with Latin America. We want partners in Latin America, not clients.

  31. The most important lesson one can take from the situation in Venezuela is the ease and willingness for a citizenry to vote for a national suicide.
    Hugo Chavez was voted into office the first time via free and mostly honest elections.
    His message was that all the inequalities within Venezuela were due solely to the actions of a greedy, repressive class – the wealthy – who earned their wealth by exploiting the average citizen, and that he would redress that situation.
    Clearly, this message resonated with the voters.

    In their stupidity and ignorance the voters refused to see where this political ideology had been applied in other nations and what the results of this ideology produced.
    In their laziness they just believed Chavez would fix everything and produce “fair” outcomes.

    The Venezuelans are now reaping the results of their voting decisions.

    Here in the USA we have Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Occasional Cortex preaching the Chavez/Maduro/Castro philosophy and Sanders has raised millions of $$$$.
    This is VERY troubling.

    Apparently there are many Americans who are just too ignorant to understand what they are supporting.
    A Venezuela can happen anywhere where voters can choose their leaders.
    And this is truly frightening.

  32. “A Venezuela can happen anywhere where voters can choose their leaders.” – John Tyler

    “A Republic…if you can keep it.” – B. Franklin

  33. This is the best argument for the need for the potential voters to pass their Economics 101 exam before they can vote. Some history of socialist and communist movements and their results should also be included.

  34. “A Venezuela can happen anywhere where voters can choose their leaders.” – John Tyler

    Nothing guarantees prudence or justice. Iraq under the Ba’athists pissed away masses of oil wealth. Argentina is a fine example of chronic underperformance as well.

  35. The most important lesson one can take from the situation in Venezuela is the ease and willingness for a citizenry to vote for a national suicide.

    It took 25 years worth of economic mismanagement by Venezuela’s political class for the voters to take a gamble on handing the keys to Chavez.

  36. Sergey:

    Poll tests have a bit of history in the US, it wasn’t good. Be careful what you wish for.

  37. Art Deco on May 2, 2019 at 2:02 pm at 2:02 pm said:

    It took 25 years worth of economic mismanagement by Venezuela’s political class for the voters to take a gamble on handing the keys to Chavez.
    * * *
    Classic case of out of the frying pan into the fire?

    Maybe they should have figured out what caused the mismanagement (greed, corruption, and arrogance no doubt, just like with our elites) and fixed that, instead of opting for vengeance clothed in the rhetoric of equality.

    That distinction seems to be an essential difference between Trump and Chavez.

  38. Aesop, it’s more like shadow cartels disrupted the economy and law and order, via secret combinations, then funded Chavez to take a hammer to the system so they could be hired on as Chavismos, part of the Ruling Elite.

    That’s how secret combinations have worked, just look at the Federal Reserve. THey aren’t just a bunch of conspirators hiding in a shadow run, running away from the Military Occupation.

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