Posted on 03/04/2019 8:07:09 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Consider two Latin American countries. The first is one of the region's oldest and strongest democracies. It boasts a stronger social safety net than any of its neighbors and is making progress on its promise to deliver free health care and higher education to all its citizens. It is a model of social mobility and a magnet for immigrants from across Latin America and Europe. The press is free, and the political system is open; opposing parties compete fiercely in elections and regularly alternate power peacefully. It sidestepped the wave of military juntas that mired some Latin American countries in dictatorship. Thanks to a long political alliance and deep trade and investment ties with the United States, it serves as the Latin American headquarters for a slew of multinational corporations. It has the best infrastructure in South America. It is still unmistakably a developing country, with its share of corruption, injustice, and dysfunction, but it is well ahead of other poor countries by almost any measure.
The second country is one of Latin America's most impoverished nations and its newest dictatorship. Its schools lie half deserted. The health system has been devastated by decades of underinvestment, corruption, and neglect; long-vanquished diseases, such as malaria and measles, have returned. Only a tiny elite can afford enough to eat. An epidemic of violence has made it one of the most murderous countries in the world. It is the source of Latin America's largest refugee migration in a generation, with millions of citizens fleeing in the last few years alone. Hardly anyone (aside from other autocratic governments) recognizes its sham elections...
These two countries are in fact the same country, Venezuela, at two different times: the early 1970s and today.
(Excerpt) Read more at foreignaffairs.com ...
The John Wayne movie "Hellfighters" winds up in Venezuela, where [spoiler narrowly avoided].
I saw that as a kid as a new-run movie.
Nice VZ links collection.
I find our Dem friends get all upset when you point out VZ is a fine example of end-stage democratic socialism.
Yah, but, but, but Barack, Hillary, Nancy and AOC will make it all work gud this time!!
Barack and Hillary will be pulling the strings behind the scenes, of course.
L8r
Then, OPEC jacked oil prices 4X, and the EPA jacked our operating costs 4X.
As far as I know, the Port Everglades facility burned fuel oil for the next 40 years, but I don't know the source or the kind of oil.
A new generator has been built which burns natural gas, but it can still burn low Sulfur fuel oil as a backup.
Venezuela’s social safety net of the 70s, was the cause of its current state.
When you make it possible for the underclass to have lots of kids, within a couple of generations the Welfare Class grows enough to vote in the socialists. Take a good look at Venezuela. That is where the US will be in a decade or two, unless we make drastic changes.
Knowing the history of Foreign Affairs, I don’t have to read the article to know that it reaches precisely the WRONG conclusions.
I think I'm going to find that disk (it's around here somewhere) and throw it on when I finally get my butt to bed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.