Venezuela's Lost Human Capital

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY ^ | 25 Jan 2007 | Editorial staff

[Kitten Festival]

Immigration: Leftists tout Hugo Chavez's trip down the socialist road as "reform" that rights past wrongs. What they never notice is that as property is confiscated and freedoms evaporate, talented Venezuelans are fleeing.

In 2005, over 10,000 Venezuelans sought permanent residence in the U.S., more than twice as many as who sought admission to the U.S. in 1999, when Chavez first took office. Of these, about a tenth were people fleeing political persecution for asylum.

As Chavez confiscates productive farms, sends red-shirted political rabble to take over apartments, shuts down TV stations, restricts government jobs and services to his friends, abandons the capital to crime, boosts Cuba's security presence, puts armed troops on every corner, launches neighborhood spying committees and forces Marxist indoctrination into even private schools, more Venezuelans find they can no longer endure it. They're leaving.

Venezuelan immigration to the U.S. has gone up more than 5,000% since 2000. Canada has seen a similar surge.

The U.S.-Venezuelan community, centered around the Doral neighborhood of Miami and in the "Little Caracas" city of Weston just north of it, numbers at least 40,000 and may be as high as 180,000, the Miami Herald reports. Houston and Calgary also have Venezuelan communities. In New York City, emigrants from the South American nation are opening chic Venezuelan restaurants.

Who's coming? Not farmworkers or day laborers. Sadly for Venezuela, we're getting the cream of the crop. The doctors working in department stores and teachers working in fast food places are among the many coming here who've had some opportunity to develop their skills as professionals and entrepreneurs.

Weston and Doral are full of business startups, beginning with Venezuelans who own bakeries and restaurants and other businesses. Most assimilate here swiftly. Among them also are software developers, advertising account executives, doctors, scientists...

[MEGoody]

Hugo knows exactly what he's doing.

If he avoids being strung up by his own people, he still has to face God one day.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

It is.

[marron]

I'm surrounded by Venezuelans on the job, and they are the cream of any crop.

[art_rocks]

communism works if you are in charge. You eat well and can become wealthy. Almost all of Hollywood will want to come see you.

[art_rocks]

If you don't believe, what's too fear.

[NicknamedBob]

"He wants to be just like Castro."

In which case, he'll soon be dead.

"Be careful what you wish for." -- Never more true.

[BunnySlippers]

Nuevo-Cuba.

Can't wait to SEE what Hugo does on Fidel's death.

[uglybiker]

My concern is how many is he going to take out before he does.

[muleskinner]

I "hear" Venezuelian women are among the most attractive on the planet.

[Brilliant]

You're not suggesting we should let only the women in, are you?

[mtntop3]

Chavez's most formidable enemy is his self. Evil tyrants do not have a history of happy-ending. Remember Mussolini and his mistress.

[goldstategop]

Hugo Chavez's loss is America's gain.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[Army Air Corps]

Venezuela Ping

[Kitten Festival]

That's the ending I am looking forward to. Maybe that's why I watch this whole drama so intently - I am waiting for that ... meathook ending.

[Wallace T.]

My guess is that the former Rhodesians and South Africans would settle in Britain and the Commonwealth countries of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, because of fewer hassles in obtaining residency and citizenship. The United States has not been too receptive to accepting whites fleeing from nations once ruled by what the MSM called "illegal white minority regimes."

The real victims are the Boers (Afrikaners). The British can return to the UK or the white Commonwealth nations; the Jews can go to Israel. The Boers, descendants of 17th Century Dutch, German, and French settlers, are too long removed from their ancestral homelands. They have lost their native land and will be lucky to find refuge anywhere.

[Billthedrill]

Another chapter in the same old story. People who want to leave will soon find their assets frozen and confiscated by the state. External travel will be limited and the families of those with legitimate business travel needs will end up hostages. Chavez has openly bragged that he intends to follow the path of Marx and Lenin, so this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

[MSF BU]

While stationed in Ryadh I delt with a very large number of young South African nurses. Aside from being delightful and good-looking, most were saving their money and planning on settling in Australia. It's a shame, because they'd fit in so well with the US culture.

[Kitten Festival]

ping

[Wallace T.]

It's a shame white South Africans cannot emigrate to the U.S. Like the Cubans and Venezuelans, the majority would probably be conservative, since they are fellow victims of Communism and would be self-reliant. Hospitals in the border states would not be packed with their pregnant women and sick. In Fort Worth, some three fourths of the births in the county run hospital are to illegal alien (usually Mexican or Central American) mothers. This statistic is repeated, or worse, from Houston to Los Angeles, and in cities in states one or two tiers from the southern border.

The actions of the Federal government in strictly controlling immigration from Europe or people of European descent are contrary to our national interest, at a minimum.

[MEGoody]

My concern is how many is he going to take out before he does.

I agree.