Posted on 04/24/2017 8:27:24 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Venezuela is no stranger to protests, but the recent uprisings have rocked the country and stirred questions about the nation’s future.
This past week, the “mother of all protests” has seen upward of 2 million Venezuelans take to the streets demanding an end to the notoriously corrupt Maduro regime.
Beginning on what would be the 207th anniversary of the country’s independence from Spain, frustrated Venezuelans have taken to the streets demanding change. So far, three Venezuelans have been killed in the marches, hundreds have been injured, and 500 have been arrested.
In the span of just over 20 years, President Nicolás Maduro, his predecessor Hugo Chavez, and their “Socialism of the 21st Century” have singlehandedly destroyed a country sitting atop of the world’s largest oil reserves.
The ongoing economic crisis has bankrupted the country, and the International Monetary Fund forecasts that by midyear the inflation rate will hit 1,600 percent. The oil industry, which brings in 95 percent of the country’s export earnings, is bottoming out.
While the nation is home to massive oil reserves, production is at its lowest level in over 20 years. Adding to the financial ruin is the Central Bank’s historically low cash reserves, which stand at 10.4 billion bolívars fuerte—7.2 billion of which is owed in outstanding debt obligations
Nowhere is the evidence of Venezuela’s unraveling more evident than the country’s health care system.
Venezuela’s Pharmaceutical Federation estimates a shortage of 85 percent of common drugs and medical supplies. Infectious diseases once kept under control have surged.
Cases of diphtheria and malaria are re-emerging, and the number of Zika infections is estimated to be “nearly 700,000,” according to a Venezuelan health organization.
While leader Maduro is widely unpopular, he has managed to stay in office by unlawfully consolidating power.
Any doubt about the Maduro regime’s determination to keep power disappeared last month when he ordered the Supreme Court to take over the National Assembly—the last remaining government branch outside of executive control.
That decision proved to be short-lived, as the court returned the legislative powers a few days later after widespread protests. But despite regaining legislative control, Venezuela’s beleaguered opposition is in a difficult place to fight back.
Currently, Venezuela has over 100 political prisoners, more than even Cuba. For the past three years, opposition leader and former government official Leopoldo Lopez has been kept in a military prison in inhumane conditions.
Another victim of the regime is Francisco Marquez, a dual U.S.-Venezuelan citizen. For four months, he was tortured by his guards and the secret police.
After almost two decades of buildup to this catastrophe, Latin American leaders are stepping forward to address the Venezuela problem.
In particular, the new leader of the Organization of American States, Secretary-General Luis Almagro, has re-engaged his organization as a force for democracy and human rights in the hemisphere. But could it be too late?
Only time will well. One thing is for certain—these protests appear to be intensifying, and by all counts the Venezuelan government is continuing its violent repression.
Just as President George H. W. Bush saw with the Tiananmen Square massacre in the early months of his presidency, Venezuela’s deteriorating situation could soon become the Trump administration’s first foreign policy crisis in Latin America.
It is no longer a matter of how long the government can hold on to power, but how the multitude of problems facing Venezuela will shape its inevitable implosion.
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That’s going to be some long and hard hand augering. I wonder if Arts Manufacturing and Supply will extend them credit?
I hope not, cause China is still red.
Not all that different than cr@p hole cities here.
Hopefully this doesn’t end the way Tiananmen ended. Better that it end with Maduro against the wall and gunned down much like Ceaucescu.
I suspect Trump’s position on this is “they got themselves into this mess...”
It really is a shame but such a wonderful lesson in the failures of Socialism it is too bad our Brown SHirt Media refuses to teach it. During my deployment to Panama in the 90s I knew a number of well off Panamanians who loved to go there on vacation “because it was the wealthiest country in South America and a fantastic place to shop”. Not kidding. In just 25 years look what Socialism can accomplish.
In The Art of War the aspiring general is advised to be meticulous in his preparation of the battlefield. Realizing that war is what happens when “politics by other means” has failed one can expect Venezuela to devolve soon into a state of war if not already. From decades of studying war from a primarily medical perspective one realizes quickly that one aspect of this preparation of the battlefield has to encompass the medical conditions. At this time the medical conditions in Venezuela are abysmal. I read the average Venezuelan has lost 17 pounds in the last year. This tells me malnutrition is rampant. People who are starving are going to put community hygiene very far down the list of priorities.
War in such conditions produces casualties from disease far in excess of combat casualties. The almost inevitable war brewing in Venezuela will kill thousands if not hundreds of thousands from Cholera and no asymmetry in technology will matter. Disease kills friends and foe.
When the population of Venezuela has been reduced sufficiently hostilities will cease. The only winner will be the grim reaper.
We would need a Constitutional Amendment to allow states to restrict the vote, since the 14th, 19th and 24th(?) Amendments pretty much took care of restricting it.
Restricting the vote to real property owners make sense, since they’re typically paying the whole enchilada (income, sales, and property taxes, in addition to various excises).
That and he has his hands more than full trying to pull America’s butt out of the fire. I hate to be callous but Venezuela is not a threat to us, not a trade partner and in our current national crisis is pretty darn low on the list of priorities.
And we could even reinstate that restriction and be *gag* gender-neutral about it. If you rent an apartment or own a house you get to vote, so long as you’re not on any kind of state or federal assistance. Simple as that.
Now we also desperately need to raise the voting age by at least 5 years with an exception for members of the armed services. But I can tell you right now that is gonna be one hell of an uphill battle because clueless college brats are one of the core Democrat voting classes. They will NOT stand idly by and lose them.
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