Corruption. Scarcity. Riots. The sadly predictable end-game of the ‘utopia ‘progressives’ keep selling us.
Venezuela — once a proud and wealthy member of OPEC — is slipping into anarchy.
The singed remains of an old fridge dumped on the side of a trash-covered street are the only sign of an outbreak of violence that erupted after anti-government protests in El Valle, a gritty working-class neighbourhood in south-east Caracas.
Other traces – ripped-out door frames, shards of broken glass – were swiftly tidied away by government workers, said Ana Sánchez, a local resident, who asked not to use her real name for fear of reprisals.
“They’re even painting the edges of sidewalks bright yellow. That’s never been done before,” she said. “The government is trying to pretend nothing happened, but we all know.” —Guardian
That’s the government trying to put a brave face on things. Whistling past the graveyard, so to speak.
The latest round of unrest began just over a month ago, when a supreme court ruling stripping the opposition-led assembly of its powers. The power grab was quickly overturned, but it galvanized the opposition, which has launched a string of near-daily protests.
Thirty people have died, including a national guardsman, a woman who was hit on the head by a bottle of frozen water thrown from a balcony, and the nine men inside the La Mayer bakery. Guardian
It’s getting bad out there.
Demonstrators on Wednesday – many wearing bandanas and carrying catapults – confronted the security forces on the Francisco Fajardo highway, which runs through the heart of Caracas.
“They [the security forces] are mobilised as if this was a war,” opposition leader Henrique Capriles said.
Mr Maduro succeeded Hugo Chavez, a popular leader, who had introduced wide-ranging social welfare programmes and died in 2013.
Since then, falling prices for Venezuelan oil exports have cut government revenue and there have been shortages of food, baby milk, medicine and other basics.
The International Monetary Fund has forecast that inflation in Venezuela will be above 700% this year.
Presidential elections are due at the end of next year.
It’s starting to look like the people of Venezuela are unwilling to wait another year.
It seems now would be a good time to Quote the wisdom of Bernie Sanders … who is STILL a beloved figure among disaffected Democrats.
This quote is taken from Aug 5, 2011 of Bernie Sanders’ OWN Senatoral Website. (link)
These days, the American dream is more apt to be realized in South America, in places such as Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina, where incomes are actually more equal today than they are in the land of Horatio Alger. Who’s the banana republic now?
Let us pause, and take this moment to thank God that Bernie is not our President.
