Letters To The Editor
Venezuelan Socialism
The images we see of what’s happening on the streets of Venezuela are heart-rending. I had supposed this type of chaos and destruction took many years — but it’s only been 21 years. Twenty-five years ago Venezuela was the fourth-richest economy in the world. Socialism vastly expanded in Venezuela in 1998 (21 years ago) with the election of Hugo Chávez. He brought in a new constitution, and, with it, redistribution of wealth and land. He took control of oil projects and nationalized banks and took control of fuel distributors. In 2014, the inflation rate hit 63 percent, and the country went into a recession.
Chávez passed away in 2013, but he had already hand-picked another socialist to continue his regime: Nicolás Maduro. The country has since gone into total economic failure. The unemployment rate in 2014 was 17 percent. As a result of government control of businesses and prices, today there is anarchy — with citizens taking to the streets in protest. The people are starving. They have broken into the Caracas Zoo to steal the animals to eat them (and the animals are starving too). Daily, thousands cross into Colombia to buy toilet paper and other essentials. People don’t go to the hospitals because there are no medicines. Electric power is sporadic — even in hospitals.
There was an election, and Maduro won, but the results are highly suspect. Tampering is not new to elections held in socialist countries. At any rate, Maduro refuses to leave.
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