Hard to feel sorry for these people.
they voted for it.
Not so certain that they voted for it. I remember that there were lots of rigged elections during Hugo Chavez's regime. Of course, Jimmy Carter and Sean Penn, would deny this. But, the religious faction of the Venezuelan population has always opposed the Chavez Communists.
The words you use are the same words that people threw at all the Germans when Hitler took over with is goons and Brown Shirts. It is easy to criticize folks who are under the thumbs of totalitarian dictators. OYOH, in the USA - we ought to know better; If it were not for the leftist press in our country, the Democrats would not win any elections. But, the atheistic intelligent at our colleges and universities are brainwashing all out young people, and they have taken over nearly every segment of our society.
Do you feel sorry for America, because “we voted for it”????
Some did, many did not. The protests are centered in the places that never voted for Chavez or Maduro.