Venezuela’s decline: the military hold the key
“Decline” doesn’t seem to be a strong enough word for what’s been happening in Venezuela. It’s horrendous there, and somewhat unclear at the moment. It seems an attempted coup is underway, but whether it will gain any more traction than before is unknown:
Despite images showing some military members in support of Guaidó, Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro said he had spoken with military leaders that showed “total loyalty.” Maduro had not been seen in public as of Tuesday afternoon and its unclear where he is located at the moment.
Guaidó, meanwhile, addressed crowds in different parts of Caracas, rallying citizens to take to the streets. “Today it is clear to us that the Armed Forces are with the people and not with the dictator,” Guaidó told a crowd in Altamira.
Historically, in situations such as this, the support of the armed forces is always key. Dictators rely on force, and if that force turns on them, they’re generally finished.
From John Bolton:
We see this now is a potentially dispositive moment in the efforts of the Venezuelan people to regain their freedom which we fully support..We think it’s still very important for key figures in the regime who have been talking to the opposition over these last three months to make good on their commitments to achieve the peaceful transfer of power from the Maduro clique to interim President Juan Guiado.
And there’s this:
MSNBC reporter Kerry Sanders unwittingly made the American case for the Second Amendment during a report Tuesday on the political upheaval in Venezuela.
Anchor Andrea Mitchell introduced Sanders for his report by commenting on the surprising ability of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro to stay in power, despite the pressure on him to step down.
“Not only hanging on but he appears to still control the military,” Sanders said. “You have to understand, in Venezuela gun ownership is not something that’s open to everybody. So if the military have the guns, they have the power and as long as Nicolás Maduro controls the military, he controls the country.”
As long as Maduro controls the military, the people have little power.
Here’s an article that goes into why economic engineering such as that of Venezuela is not going to have good outcomes:
So many people enamored with long-debunked theories had high hopes that for Venezuela — despite the enormous historical and empirical evidence to the contrary — the promise of socialism would work and would not lead to the loss of liberties or drive the once-prosperous nation into poverty. Looking back on the 20th century, we should turn to some of the most prominent thinkers who lived under similar conditions and dissected their experiences for us to learn from. Venezuela’s crisis is a good example of harsh lessons learned by one generation but forgotten by the next.
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. Over half a century later, beginning with Hugo Chávez’s revolution, Venezuela began its own road to serfdom by expropriating thousands of businesses and even entire industries. The more fortunate companies left before it was too late, while the businesses that remained were handed over to the Venezuelan military, under whose oversight they were neglected into ruins. In a typical demonstration of class warfare, the government publicly vilified these business owners as unpatriotic, greedy lackeys of American interests, claiming that Venezuela’s poverty had been a direct result of their existence.
Chavismo created an atmosphere of distrust in which no one felt safe enough to invest in Venezuela. More important, the courts were no longer the place to get redress. Since 1999, the Venezuelan judiciary had been systematically stacked with judges loyal to the executive. Twenty years after socialism took hold of the country, Venezuela has hit rock bottom on every possible development index. Today, 90 percent of Venezuelans are living below the poverty line and inflation rates exceed 1 million percent. Record numbers of children are dying from malnutrition, and nearly all of the country’s hospitals are either inoperative or in critical need of basic medical supplies. Frequent nationwide power outages have left, at times, up to 70 percent of Venezuela in darkness. 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.”
Has anyone noticed whether those celebrities and politicians touting the wonders of Venezuela’s Chavez and then Maduro have commented on recent developments there?
“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.
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”
Bernie will not be the Dem nominee.
All the Bernie Bros and all the Bernadettes can just forget about it.
You could be right Neo Maybe God just doesn’t want to kill me.
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.
Where is Manju? Singing with the crickets?
TommyJay:
And his name was “Lenin,” too?
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
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
I set a goal. And, God didn’t want to kill me. So He didn’t.
Steve,
Having trouble following your line of thought.
Are you ok?
“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.
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.
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!”
There’s a number of Venezuelans named Stalin; this one works with Guaido: Stalin Gonzalez, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalin_González
DNW, did I not mention that when I’m making sense no one listens to me?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhZe7eZK4dw
“Stephen Coughlin, Part 1: Lectures on National Security & Counterterror Analysis (Introduction)”
I am, BTW, not Stephen Caughlin.
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.
I hope for a good outcome in Venezuela, but I fear there will be rivers of blood.
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
[not feminist group code pink, but anti war, live with your communist leader American lady feminists. ]
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?
original… so, that’s what your going with ladies?
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.”
Heh, I met Dorfman back in the day. Wasn’t . . . favorably impressed, though I did laugh a heap at his Scrooge McDuck folly.
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
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.
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.
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)
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.
Tommy Jay, his parents named Lenín Moreno.
Wiki: Lenín Moreno.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Once you allow them to diasarm you without a fight to the death, you are slaves. Decide how you want to die.
Roy Nathanson
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
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.
cdrsalamander’s brief post on Venezuela:
https://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2019/04/venezuela-goes-hot.html
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
John Tyler,
You should be afraid.
“A Venezuela can happen anywhere where voters can choose their leaders.” – John Tyler
“A Republic…if you can keep it.” – B. Franklin
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.
“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.
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.
Sergey:
Poll tests have a bit of history in the US, it wasn’t good. Be careful what you wish for.
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.
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.