Home Ken's Thoughts Of The Week Ken’s Thoughts of the Week: Fixing Venezuela’s mess

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

2125
0
 
 

.

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.
  • 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:

  • Cut diplomatic relations with Venezuela, as well as Cuba and Iran, its key destabilizer
  • Close down Iran’s narco-terror organization in Venezuela and other Central & South American countries, through its Hezbollah proxy

So much to do, so little time!

Let’s use the implosion of Venezuela to reverse our years of neglect in Latin America. Let’s clean out our enemies in our own back yard.

Not easy, but it is time to focus on ridding evil from the Western Hemisphere!


Additional reading:

Hugo Chavez’s ambassador daughter is Venezuela’s richest woman – Daily Mail Online (UK)

Venezuelan ‘daughters of Chavismo’ exposed living lavishly overseas – Fox News

Report: Girls As Young As 14 Sell Sex, Straight Men Sell Gay Sex To Escape Socialist Hellhole Venezuela – Daily Wire

Desperate women fleeing Venezuela sell hair, breast milk, sex to get by – Fox News

Venezuelan women flock to Colombia border town to sell hair – YahooNews

Venezuela: All you need to know about the crisis in seven charts – BBC News (UK)

See how many bills it took to buy a chicken in Venezuela – NBC News

See how many bills it took to buy a chicken in Venezuela – News AU (Australia)

Millions of Venezuelans are fleeing to Latin American cities. The region may never be the same. – The Washington Post

Hollywood’s Chavez-cheering stars & Venezuela’s victms – NY Post

What Caused Venezuela’s Collapse Is No Mystery — Except To Economically Illiterate Journalists –  Investor’s Business Daily

Inflation and Recession Deal Venezuela a Double Blow – Wall St. Journal

Socialism for the Uninformed, by Dr. Thomas Sowell

Venezuela GDP Annual Growth Rate – Trading Economics

Venezuela’s Road to Disaster Is Littered With Chinese Cash – Foreign Policy

VIDEO: Venezuela’s economic crisis fuels sex trade

 

 

.

.