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Ken’s Thoughts of the Week: Fixing Venezuela’s mess

Kenneth Abramowitz

January 28, 2019

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View inside a looted supermarket in Capacho, Tachira state, Venezuela, on May 17, 2017.
Venezuela’s government said Wednesday it was sending troops to a western region rocked by looting and attacks against security installations during a wave of anti-government protests. / AFP PHOTO / George Castellanos (Photo credit should read GEORGE CASTELLANOS/AFP/Getty Images)

By Ken Abramowitz, founder and president, SaveTheWest.com

Edited by Jon Sutz, editor of SaveTheWest.com

Venezuela is a failed state, caused by 18 years of its leaders’ lies, mismanagement and corruption.

Venezuela had a population of 35 million, of which 3 million have now fled to neighboring countries during the past three years, seeking to escape the grinding poverty, soaring inflation, starvation brought on by Chavez’s, then Maduro’s false socialist narratives, and endless promises.

Just as with all socialists’ promises of free benefits, to work “for the people” instead of businesses, Venezuela should be a paradise of “social justice” and prosperity. No private corporations are left, nor are there any capitalists, whom the socialists blamed for “exploiting” the people. The government has seized control of all facets of the economy. Leading socialism-supporting Americans including Sean Penn, Michael Moore, Bernie Sanders and others all gave Chavez’s socialist revolution their enthusiastic, public support — and who also said they wish for a similar revolution in America.

But when the socialist policies were actually put into practice, the nation began to fall completely apart, as was predicted by free-market analysts and economists. The economy collapsed, causing the government to begin running the currency printing machines day and night, flooding the nation with paper money that had progressively less value.

What is result? What is the situation actually like, on the ground, for “the people”? A few examples will suffice:

The inflation rate in 2018 was one million three hundred thousand percent. For those who are not economically literate, this means that a single unit of currency has 1,300,000th of the buying power than it did before the socialist revolution. That is why one roll of toilet paper now costs $12 U.S. dollars (it is now literally less expensive to use Venezuelan paper money as toilet paper than actual toilet paper), and food staples, electricity and other life necessities are far beyond the ability of most Venezuelans to pay.

As a result of what the Venezuelan socialist government has wrought, teenage girls and young women now have to sell their bodies, hair and even breast milk to feed their families.

The Venezuelan GDP (Gross Domestic Product), the total value of the goods and services it produces, has fallen 50% since 2013.

So far, the U.S. policy statements have been firm and clear:

Vice President Pence has promised full support for opposition leader Juan Guiado, in effect announcing the U.S.’s belief in regime change.

National Security Advisor John Bolton has warned against “violence and intimidation” against U.S. personnel still on the ground in Venezuela, or against Guiado.

Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said the U.S. won’t rule out military action, if Venezuela’s leaders employ violence and terror to advance their objectives.

Finally, a strong coordinated American response!

Not surprisingly, however, Russia, China, Mexico, Iran and Turkey back Maduro. All of these countries benefited from America’s neglect of Latin America and failure to revive the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, which opposed European interference in Latin America. Not much has changed in the past 200 years. We still need to protect both Latin America and ourselves from foreign invaders.

What should we do next? I suggest asking our allies to work with us to: