Posts

What You Need to Know About the Presidential Crisis in Venezuela

/0 Comments/in , /by

Socialist autocrat Nicolas Maduro helped continue the downward spiral in Venezuela for what was once a promising and growing state, leading to a full-blown economic, societal, and now a political crisis.

On Wednesday, the United States government threw its weight behind the legitimacy of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido. In the span of minutes, the Trump administration built a rapid-fire, almost instant global coalition behind the removal of the Venezuelan dictator Maduro.

The country’s economy is in a state of collapse. Once private and thriving companies were forcibly overtaken by state authorities, with disastrous consequences for some 500 or more businesses. Socialist management of Venezuela’s oil riches has led to major output issues. Inflation continues to devalue its already worthless currency. Its GDP contracted by more than 10 percent in 2018. Political and societal instability has resulted in a substantial brain drain. High taxation and regulation have made it pretty much impossible to become a successful businessman or entrepreneur without working hand in glove with the state. And given that the socialized system delivers no incentive to make a living, logistics are a national nightmare, resulting in empty supermarkets and shuttered stores.

Life in general for the average Venezuelan remains exceedingly difficult. Law and order are basically nonexistent. The government regularly engages in extremely violent crackdowns on who they perceive to be political opponents.

These realities have created a massive humanitarian crisis in Venezuela affecting tens of millions of people. The past year has seen hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans regularly taking to the streets, in defiance of Maduro, to raise awareness about their desperate and horrific conditions.

President Trump recognized Juan Guaido as president of Venezuela just minutes after Guaido declared himself “acting president” at a protest in Caracas on Wednesday.

“In its role as the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people, the National Assembly invoked the country’s constitution to declare Nicolas Maduro illegitimate, and the office of the presidency therefore vacant,” President Trump said in a statement. “The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law.”

The vast majority of countries in the Western Hemisphere have backed Guaido. Eleven countries in the 14-country Lima Group — Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Peru — released a statement backing Guaido. Mexico, Cuba, and Bolivia support Maduro, while a few, such as Guyana, Uruguay, and Saint Lucia, remained neutral.

Across the globe, several powerful authoritarian nations continue to put their weight behind Maduro. Turkey, Russia, Iran, China, and others have expressed their support for Maduro as the leader of Venezuela. The European Union backed Guaido and urged immediate democratic elections.

Both Maduro and Guaido continue to claim the mantle of the presidency. Maduro justifies his legitimacy by pointing to his victory the 2018 elections, which international observers considered to be rigged in his favor. Guaido is currently the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly. In that position, he becomes interim president of the country if there is a presidential vacancy. Guaido claims that Maduro’s 2018 election was illegitimate, and therefore Guaido should be president.

It remains too early to tell who will persevere as the ultimate authority in Venezuela. A former Venezuelan ministry says that ultimately, the “guys with guns,” or the Venezuelan military, will determine the outcome of the political crisis, putting aside the prospect of foreign intervention. (For more from the author of “What You Need to Know About the Presidential Crisis in Venezuela” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

Strong Trump: President Recognizes Opposition Leader as Leader of Venezuela

/0 Comments/in , /by

On Wednesday, taking a typically unequivocal stance, President Trump recognized Juan Guaido, 35, the president of the Venezuela National Assembly who is in opposition to socialist President Nicholas Maduro, as the interim president of Venezuela just minutes after Guaido announced himself as the head of state.

As Bloomberg reports, at a protest in Caracas before hundreds of thousands of people, Guaido stated he would assume the powers of the Venezuela presidency, citing a constitutional amendment that permits the head of the legislature to do so. He said, “I swear to formally assume the powers of the national executive as interim president of Venezuela to achieve the end of the usurpation.” NBC News noted, “The protests were called to coincide with the anniversary of the 1958 coup that overthrew military dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez – a historic date for Venezuelans.”

Guaido became the president of the Venezuela National Assembly on January 5. Roughly two weeks ago, Maduro was inaugurated for a second, six-year term, but many countries, including the United States, have called his election illegitimate.

Trump released a statement asserting:

In its role as the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people, the National Assembly invoked the country’s constitution to declare Nicolas Maduro illegitimate, and the office of the presidency therefore vacant. The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law … We encourage other Western Hemisphere governments to recognize National Assembly President Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela, and we will work constructively with them in support of his efforts to restore constitutional legitimacy. We continue to hold the illegitimate Maduro regime directly responsible for any threats it may pose to the safety of the Venezuelan people.

(Read more from “Strong Trump: President Recognizes Opposition Leader as Leader of Venezuela” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE

This Is How Venezuelan Families Are Being Forced to Bury Loved Ones

/0 Comments/in , /by

As the crisis in Venezuela’s socialist dictatorship deepens – gripped by mass hunger, starvation and a lack of medical supplies – there is no comfort even for the dead.

“What is happening is medieval. People are ‘renting’ caskets for a service, but giving them back. The same casket is being used over and over again because people cannot afford to buy one,” Venezuelan opposition leader Julio Borges, who has been living in exile in the Colombian capital of Bogota for the past nine months, told Fox News. “And then they have to wrap the body in plastic bags for the burial. Others don’t have money for a land plot, so they are burying loved ones in their back garden.”

Borges said the “really creepy” problem of how to properly bury the dead has become the norm rather than the exception. Other Venezuelans concurred, indicating the use of “common graves,” along with backyard burials, was becoming standard.

One Venezuelan, who asked his name not be published, described the sudden death of his father in the capital Caracas last week, which left the family without a vehicle to take the body to the morgue. It took more than a day for the body to be collected. . .

“Funeral services are too expensive. Coffins are expensive, as well as paying for a place in the cemetery and everything that comes with it: the chapel for the service, the plate,” Julett Pineda, a health journalist for Efecto Cocuyo in Caracas, told Fox News. “People cannot have a decent funeral.” (Read more from “This Is How Venezuelan Families Are Being Forced to Bury Loved Ones” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Whoa: Is Venezuela Behind the Caravan?

/0 Comments/in , /by

During an Oval Office meeting with President Trump on Tuesday afternoon, Vice President Mike Pence implied Venezuela may be behind the 7,000 person strong caravan moving north toward the United States.

“At the President’s direction, I spoke to President Hernandez of Honduras. He told me that the caravan that is now making its way through Mexico, headed for the southern border, was organized by leftist organizations and financed by Venezuela,” Pence revealed. “People that are driving this caravan north to challenge our sovereignty, to challenge our borders, are doing so without any regard for human life and doing advance some political statement, or in the case of human traffickers, strictly for financial profit. The president is absolutely determined to use all means at his disposal to organize efforts to have Mexico turn this caravan around.”

Earlier this year Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused the United States and the CIA of trying to assassinate him.

“It is inconceivable that there would not be individuals from the Middle East as a part of this growing caravan. What the President is determined to do is put the safety and security of the American people first, and I know the President will be addressing this in the coming days about ways we need to close the loopholes that human traffickers and other dangerous individuals used to entice vulnerable families to make the long and dangerous trek north,” Pence continued.

(Read more from “Whoa: Is Venezuela Behind the Caravan?” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Venezuela: Where Inflation Is so Bad That $1 Can Buy You 3.5 Million Liters of Gasoline

/0 Comments/in , /by

Venezuela is a total disaster. Inflation is through the roof. Medical supplies are low. Basic commodities, like toilet paper, are in short supply. Readily available medicines, which we take for granted, are not around. Crime has risen. Economic destitution abounds—and yet democratic socialists in America want to exportthat misery here. The people are starving. It’s become so bad that people are eating out of garbage cans. In some cases, Venezuelan doctors, teachers, and even childrenare not prostituting for food. Zoo animals, dogs, cats, and birds have been targeted for food. In the meantime, waiting in line at the supermarket could land you in legal trouble with the police. With food so scarce, people wait overnight to try and get something for their families, an illegal activity in the country. So, how bad is Venezuela’s inflation problem?

The International Monetary Fund says the rate could hit 1 million percent. No, that’s not a joke. It’s on that projected path. Right now, French news agency AFP reported that one U.S. dollar could buy you 3.5 million liters of gasoline:

In Venezuela’s inflation-hit economy, a single US dollar can buy 3.5 million liters of gasoline– an absurdity that the government says it will tackle with a hike in the cost of state-subsidized fuel. . .

Maduro announced on July 29 plans to adjust the price of gasoline and regulate sales based on the so-called “fatherland card,” an electronic card that provides access to subsidies. As a first step the government began a census of motor vehicles, set to end on Sunday.

A liter of 91-octane gasoline currently costs one bolivar, while 95-octane gas costs six. By contrast, a single egg in Venezuela’s hyperinflation ravaged economy — estimated by the IMF at one million percent in 2018 — costs 200,000 bolivars.

(Read more from “Venezuela: Where Inflation Is so Bad That $1 Can Buy You 3.5 Million Liters of Gasoline” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Venezuelan Government: Explosions Were Attempted Attack on President

/0 Comments/in , /by

Authorities detained six people suspected of using explosives-laden drones in a failed bid to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, officials said Sunday. Interior Minister Nestor Luis Reverol on Sunday described it as a terrorist attack and said more arrests could follow within hours. Investigators have raided hotels and seized vehicles for details into the plot.

Venezuela’s socialist government alleged Sunday that the detained suspects conspired with others in Miami and the capital of neighboring Colombia, though they offered no specific evidence. Opposition leaders criticized Maduro for broadly singling out his political opponents, and they warned that he might use the attack to further suppress his critics.

The thwarted attack comes as Venezuela is reeling from a worsening economic and humanitarian crisis and Maduro has grown increasingly isolated. Foreign nations, including the United States, are slapping economic sanctions against a growing list of high-ranking officials and decrying his government as an autocratic regime.

Maduro and his allies called the attack direct proof that an international plot to overthrow his socialist administration exists, while also saying that the military’s response shows he still has the loyalty of Venezuela’s soldiers.

But analysts said the images broadcast live on television when the attack struck during a Maduro speech Saturday evening made him appear vulnerable. (Read more from “Venezuelan Government: Explosions Were Attempted Attack on President” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Another U.S. Prisoner Brought Back Home

/0 Comments/in , /by

U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence says sanctions will remain on Venezuela despite the release of a US prisoner and his wife on Saturday.

Joshua Holt and his Venezuelan wife Thamy arrived in the US accompanied by Senator Bob Corker, who helped negotiate their release. . .

Mr Holt and his wife had been imprisoned in Venezuela for two years on charges of concealing weapons.

“Very glad that Josh Holt is now back home with his family – where he has always belonged,” Mr Pence wrote in a tweet. “Sanctions continue until democracy returns to Venezuela.”

The couple were detained in 2016 at her family’s house in the capital Caracas while waiting for US visas, and accused of hiding weapons. Both were jailed for two years.

(Read more from “Another U.S. Prisoner Brought Back Home” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Inmates in Foreign Country Eat Rats, Pigeons to Stay Alive

/0 Comments/in , /by

Venezuelan prisoners are eating rats and pigeons as a means of survival as food supplies continue to dissipate in the failed socialist state, according to a report published this weekend.

El Nuevo Herald reports that a group of prisoners at the Vista Hermosa (Beautiful View) prison in Bolivar state have turned to eating such creatures simply to sustain themselves.

One inmate, 41-year-old Alejandro Manuel Mago Coraspe, was transferred to a nearby hospital last week after falling ill from eating dead rats he found in a prison garbage disposal . . .

The man admitted that he regularly eats rats and other types of rodents, mainly out of “need and hunger,” adding that other inmates also do the same. Previous reports by the Venezuelan Penal Forum also found cases of prisoners being feed “raw pasta with feces.”

The case is another example of the humanitarian crisis currently inflicting Venezuela that has left millions of people starving and is now causing a migration exodus of Biblical proportions. (Read more from “Inmates in Foreign Country Eat Rats, Pigeons to Stay Alive” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Trump Slaps New Sanctions on Venezuela

/0 Comments/in , /by

President Trump levied a new set of economic sanctions on Venezuela Friday in an attempt to exclude the country’s government from U.S. financial markets

The new sanctions ban Americans from “participating in [President Nicolás] Maduro’s liquidation of the Venezuelan economy,” said a senior administration official.

The sanctions cover an array of financial activities, banning Americans from acquiring new Venezuelan debt and Maduro’s government from receiving profits from U.S.-based companies.

The new sanctions will block CITGO, an American oil company with more than $32 billion in yearly revenue, from sending profits to its corporate owner, state-owned Venezuelan oil company Petróleos de Venezuela.

But the sanctions avoided blocking secondary markets from trading Venezuelan securities and carved out licenses for U.S.-owned Venezuelan debt. (Read more from “Trump Slaps New Sanctions on Venezuela” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Socialism: The Grinch That Stole Venezuela’s Children

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Christmas season is a time to think of those less fortunate. This year, the children of Venezuela certainly qualify.

It’s not merely that they’re suffering through the third year of a crippling recession, although that’s bad enough. Thanks to the wealth-destroying policies of President Nicolás Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, more of them are hopeless, starving and effectively orphaned.

Decked out in black to mourn her murdered son, 40-year-old Dileida Palacios told her daughter that, this year, “everything is tough and Santa Claus isn’t coming.” Who can afford toys when a few food staples can absorb much of the $20 average monthly salary? Hyperinflation caused by runaway deficit spending has made the nation’s currency, the Bolivar, worth less than one U.S. penny, and inflation is expected to climb to 2,000 percent in 2017.

Socialism Drives Parents to Give Away their Children

The crisis has deepened to the point that a growing number of parents are doing the unthinkable: giving away their children. While the government does not release official statistics, Reuters reports that “three local councils and four national welfare groups all confirmed an increase in parents handing children over to the state, charities or friends and family.”

Behold the fruit of the latest failure of socialism: the redistribution of children.

It may be inaccurate to describe as a “failure” one of socialism’s cherished goals. Friedrich Engels, the more obscure co-author of The Communist Manifesto, wrote in his 1884 book The Origin of the Family that Communism sought to transform raising children “into a social industry. The care and education of the children becomes a public affair; society looks after all children alike.” Statists of all descriptions must necessarily seek to undermine the family, and any pre-political or intermediary institution that competes for its loyalty.

It is a miracle that children are able to be born, as the economic crisis led to an increase in voluntary sterilization. Venezuela’s stagflation, crony wealth redistribution, growing indebtedness, punishment of investors, and nationalization of industries have succeeded in fraying the tightest of all bonds.

Parents simply cannot afford life’s necessities since Maduro — who insists that the nation’s economic woes are part of a conspiracy to topple him, and hence the people’s revolution, from power — imposed strict price controls on food and medicine. Shelves immediately cleared out and have only been restocked in areas where he lifted artificial price ceilings. But there are few goods and is even less investment in a market beset, as the World Bank delicately puts it, with “distortions.” (The Heritage Foundation describes the nation’s economy as “repressed.”)

Like Stalin Playing Santa Claus

To divert the people’s attention, this month Venezuelan authorities seized 3.8 million toys from the nation’s leading toy manufacturer, Kreisel, on the grounds that the company conspired to sell them for more than the state-mandated price. The toys were redistributed in the days before Christmas by the Local Committees of Supply and Production (CLAPs), the same committees charged with distributing enough groceries to feed every needy family – and which have been credibly accused of starving Maduro’s critics.

The distribution of toys will be doubly problematic since many of the children, socialism’s refugees from their own families, no longer live at the address the government has on file.

Not Even Big Brother Can Really Run an Economy

All of this bears out Friedrich von Hayek’s observation that even the most enlightened government cannot properly manage an economy, because it lacks the necessary information to do so. Hayek wrote in The Road to Serfdom:

There would be no difficulty about efficient control or planning were conditions so simple that a single person or board could effectively survey all the facts. But as the factors which have to be taken into account become numerous and complex, no one center can keep track of them. The constantly changing conditions of demand and supply of different commodities can never be fully known or quickly enough disseminated by any one center. Under competition — and under no other economic order — the price system automatically records all the relevant data.

Yet Venezuela’s socialists continue to practice the fatal conceit with no signs of mercy or self-knowledge. Upon confiscating Kreisel’s inventory the consumer protection agency, Sundde, tweeted: “Our children are sacred, we will not let you rob them of Christmas.” In a nationally televised speech announcing the toy distribution, Maduro modestly called himself “a reinforcement for Father Christmas” and “Saint Nicolas with a mustache!”

But the children of Venezuela need their families far more than the government’s purloined trinkets. They long to grow up in a society that has the building blocks of human flourishing: respect for the rule of law, inalienable rights, the sanctity of the family unit, and economic policies that reward productivity and private initiative. Far from the saintly bishop, who gave his own money to those in need, Maduro’s socialist policies are like year-round minions of the Grinch, snatching away Venezuelan children’s food, their families, and their future. (For more from the author of “Socialism: The Grinch That Stole Venezuela’s Children” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.