Image María Alejandra Mora (SoyMAM), Creative Commons.
He won’t go easily. That seems certain enough.
There may be pressure, quietly, from the United States, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Venezuelan people are eager to be rid of their dictatorial leader and return to some sort of functioning normalcy.
When everyone is hungry, there is no quiet.
In the latest turn of events, President Maduro’s government squashed a referendum in the National Assembly to recall him from office… but now his opponents are attempting to put him on trial.
The measure itself has no chance of passing, but the symbolic gesture is telling enough for a country that’s increasingly desperate and uneasy. For the past couple of years, pressure from dropping oil prices has exacerbated a weak and failing socialist system – making distribution, infrastructure, electric power and other necessities impossible to maintain.
via Reuters:
Venezuela’s opposition-led National Assembly in a rowdy session on Sunday pressed to put Nicolas Maduro on trial for violating democracy, days after authorities nixed a recall referendum against the unpopular leftist president.
The measure is unlikely to get traction as the government and the Supreme Court have systematically undermined the legislature on grounds it is illegitimate until it removes three lawmakers accused of vote-buying. But it marked a further escalation of political tensions in the crisis-hit OPEC nation.
“It is a political and legal trial against President Nicolas Maduro to see what responsibility he has…
The session was briefly interrupted when around 100 apparently pro-government protesters stormed in, brandishing Socialist Party signs and shouting “The Assembly will fall!” before officials herded them out.
[…]
“The Socialist Party is showing what it has left. There are no ideas or arguments, only violence!” said opposition leader and two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles.
[…]
…opposition congressmen chanted “The people are hungry and want a recall!”
While Maduro and his loyalistas can stave off opposition for now, it only makes the inevitable more potent.
As JFK observed: “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”
This appears truer than ever in Venezuela. There is every sense that total chaos is coming.
Venezuela has since devolved into a nightmare, prompting many of its people – perhaps regardless of politics – to support his ouster. Maduro has argued that the U.S. is waging economic war against him, and there is truth in the fact that pro-U.S. factions are eager to remove him. Nonetheless, it’s not an argument to allow him to continue wielding power.
Already, Venezuela has reached the point where people must wait in line for hours for their turn to buy goods – if they are available. Otherwise, they must rely upon inflated black market prices, and more desperate measures like poaching, robbery and looting.
Some Venezuelans have been traveling to the borders of Colombia and Brazil just to purchase food and stock up on necessities that are too hard to find at home.
Normal life has been upended, and significant levels of hunger, malnutrition, violence and unrest are taking hold.
Many are unhappy with either the ruling socialist party, or with the pro-American opposition who have wielded power in the past on the basis of its oil-rich resources. Most just want security, and an end to hunger.
Read more:
Raw Venezuela: Looter Burned Alive, While “Streets Filled With People Killing Animals For Food”
Venezuela Isn’t Just in Crisis, But Faces “Total Societal Collapse”
Crumbling American Economy Headed for Venezula-Style Collapse: “Worthless Cash; Nothing To Buy”
Venezuelans Swarm Past Border In Search of Food: “We Crossed Because Our Children Are Hungry”
Crashing Oil Prices Threaten To Destroy Already Fragile Economy: “More Job Loss, Debt Defaults”
“Socialism (lit. ‘gouvernement’ in Fr.) is the great fiction, whereby everybody endeavours to live off of everybody else.”
– Frederic Bastiat, 1801-1850
And, why yes, you are indeed correct! Leftists STILL have no idea at all why this HAS never worked, WILL never work, and CAN never work. But… that won’t stop them from trying a zillion times over with YOUR money (while they hide their own)
TEST, AMEN to your comments. My wife and her family suffered horribly under Fidel Castro’s brand of socialism in Cuba during his first few years in power. By the time she escaped in 1967, Castro had totally wrecked the island’s economy. The only thing propping up that regime today is terror from the government itself. That’s the only way tyrants stay in power.
Was it Castro or the United States? Seems your opinion, glad to see you posted something besides “bugging out in two weeks” or “couldn’t agree more”, is biased towards your departed wife and her family. Castro took out the Bourgeoisie who kept the peasants poor with corruption and money from the United States. Like the French Revolution, it was started because the Cuban libra was equal to the US dollar which kept the elite in power, “Cuba was basically a bordello for the United States.” Sort of what we are seeing in the US now with elite control.
Now once Castro lead the revolution the US citizens lost a ton of cash as all private foreign property was possessed by the state. Thus the sanctions put in place by the US.
Now you post about the March on Washington and taking back our country, sounds a little like Castro to me.
Since when did the Cuban Peso become the ‘Cuban libra’? You been drinking Cuba Libres?
The Cuban Peso was pegged to the US dollar in the 19th Century at par, and stayed there until Castro took over and ruined the country. The ordinary person had some buying power to his pesos in those days.
The Convertible Peso, is a unit used by foreigners to purchase goods and services in Cuba. It’s artificially ‘pegged’, actually by fiat, to be worth one US dollar. Apparently, you’ve confused the CUC with the CUP. The peons, however, get to use the Cuban Peso, the CUP, which is worth exactly four cents US.
Sounds like the Cuban elite is still pegging the Peso to the dollar to keep in power, doesn’t it? I wonder when the poor, downtrodden oppressed workers will get to use the buying power of the Convertible Peso? Fidel and Raoul certainly do, but I guess some Puercos are more equal than others, eh?
Next time you want to post some socialista fantasies, you might want to do your homework first.
You also need to explain just how the French Revolution in 1789 was started because the Cuban Peso was pegged to the US Dollar in 1857, as well, because that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
The U.S. wants Venezuela’s huge oil reservoir.
It’s not about civil rights, voting rights or any rights.
It’s about the U.S. policing its SLAVE STATES & RESOURCES under the 1823 MONROE DOCTRINE. SIMPLE.
THAT’S WHY I LOVE PUTIN & DUTERTE. GODS AMONG MEN.
Socialism requires government to administer it. They know it doesn’t work but it is the most convenient way to enrich themselves. In the end the country is destroyed, the people are left starving and homeless and the administrators are enriched.
the good side of it is that sometimes the administrators lose their heads
I’m reminded of dear old departed Leonid Brezhnev, former USSR leader. OK, yes, this is apocryphal, but still…
The story goes Leonid Brezhnev had his ancient grandmother visit him at his office in Moscow when he was leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Brezhnev proudly showed her his many Zil limousines – all left running for whenever his whims demanded – the Italian marble floors in his private bathroom, the gold plated handles on his mahogany desk, all his dachas, his multiple fine silk suites in his closets, and much, much more.
Finally, the end of the day came, and all the assistants, servants and aides went home. After everyone had left, the aged grandmother looked around very, very carefully, then sidled up as close as she possibly could to her grandson and whispered very, very quietly in his ear:
“This is all very well, Leonid. But… WHAT IF THE COMMUNISTS COME???
Of course, today we would apply this same story to all the Hollywood Learjet leftists, Michelle-Marie Antoinette Obama and her monthly uber-vacations, and all of Hilary’s Goldman Sucks cronies, but leftists are also utterly too ignorant to figure that out, either.
All Maduro is doing is angering the population even more, if they can’t deal with their issues by legal means according to the laws, they’ll have to deal with the issues outside of the law.
Revolution is a traditional Latin American pastime.
Smokey, I get the feeling they’ve already exhausted all of their legal options and revolution is next. They need to get some weapons any way they can and start ‘housecleaning’.
Venezuela is a canary.
It is an example of a socialist
government that is unable to deal
with natural ups and downs.
I have water, shelter, food, and
tools for life, because I don’t depend
on the government for anything but
money system, postal system, and
national defense. The people of Venezuela
are sitting on the largest pile of money on earth
and yet they can’t benefit from it.
They elect Democrats. They are starving.
We elect Democrats, I won’t, but many Americans
will starve. Personally I don’t care if adult
Democrats starve, as they get what they elect.
I care for the kids.
The problem arises when all those starving adults start roaming the cities and countryside, scavenging/stealing food (and weapons, shelter, etc).
Unless you have solid neighbors who are similarly prepared, and/or live way out in a very remote area… you’re going to see a lot of trouble from it.
Odd,
Look me and Nailbanger up in
archives, I live on the most remote
island on the face of the earth.
There is no other island further
away from a continent, than my
home. We will have some problems
if SHTF, but we will not suffer the
problems you people close to Democrat
cities will. Most of the local starving people
will be “Ohana” which we traditionally
take care of anyway. So we are used
to it. We take care of most stuff locally.
Cops drive our drunks home. Meth labs
mysteriously burn up, nobody ever finds
a cattle thief.
Aloha.
Edit
” nobody ever finds
a cattle thief”.
Alive!
Have to check the pig farm, pigs eat everything including bones.
I have pigs.
Pigs are a mans best friend!
I just toss the carcas in a deep gulch, nobody will find anything
i can’t help but think what big trouble you’ll be in when china starts marchin’ to U.S., and you are the first step to U.S…y’all let the gubmint take the guns from you(so did WE calipornians, but that’s another story), so when they finally decide to invade, you are on their doorstep. japan worried about a gun behind every blade of grass, but not so much now….you ARE far away from U.S., but you are ALSO far away from “help” from U.S…oh well, at least in the meantime you live in paradise. good luck to ALL, irregardless of where you live…..yer gonna NEED it.
rellik ~ And here’s me thinking Tristan da Cunha was the most remote island on the planet.
If you can get the simple geographical fact wrong about the location of your volcanic rock in relation to landfall, how many other “facts” do you get wrong?
I’ll re-check my sources for that fact about Hawaii.
I don’t dream stuff up.
I dont care if these idiot democrats and even adults who should have the sense to at least prepare for storms and such starve because of their own ignorance,,, thin the gene pool, it freakin needs it, one trip to wallmart or k mart on a saturday proves that
They just need some U-Hauls.
Im reminded of the end of a song from the Wizard of Oz…
“If I/We only had a gun”!
Socialism, Communism, and every other “ism” sucks. THAT’S why we are a REPUBLIC! The left will find out real fucking quick what happens if they steal this election!!
Just like in the book Atlas shrugged i know folks walking away from productive thriving business every week, they are sick and tired of the government sticking their grubby littly fingers and snotty noses into their business,
Who Is John Galt!
Just watched again what I think is the best prepper movie that deals with famine. The Good Eartth With Paul Muni and the great Luise Rainer. I think the greatest movie ever made. You will see keye luke of the original Kung Fu. When he was young.
Great classic film from an outstanding book.
What happened to satori the hitlery ra ra,,,get their pantys all in a bundle and stomp off?
Wow, I guess Mac Slavo must own some oil company stock. For someone who used to be such an ardent critic of US foreign policy, he sure hates the same people the US State Department wants to overthrow!
Yep Replace the socialist they now have with a different socialist. Yep that will make everything Hunky Dory!
The photo of the people in Venezuela show masses of spiffy clean, well dressed, well nourished, phone toting people with spotless flags.
Real photos, or REAL story, please.
Hungry Venezualeans are hungry because they trusted someone else to feed them. American’s who haven’t already, should start planting edible trees, shrubs, and flowers and vines. Fences are great for vines like grapes, thorny bushes to discourage trespassing, edible flowers are just as beautiful as other flowers. You don’t have to become a farmer. Just use a little common sense and put at least a few herbs like Rosemary as a low hedge and things that do well in your geographic area.
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