Worse still, as government power concentrated itself in a few hands, it didn't take long for corruption to gain a foothold, corruption unlike any the hemisphere has seen, with billions stolen by its cronies. Hugo himself died a billionaire by 2013.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF VENEZUELA’s RECENT ELECTIONS...
Two, fraudulent elections, and even the perceptions of fraudulent elections matter even more.
For Venezuela, the wages of Chavez’s economic mismanagement, and attempt to coopt the Venezuelan state oil company’s union led to huge protests and a recall referendum petition that drew millions of signatures asking to get rid of that guy.
The very concept of the recall was placed into the rewritten constitution by Chavez’s own cronies, and it opposition took that opportunity to turn it onto Chavez himself. In 2004, after numerous attempts to halt the recall through legal technicalities failed, but absolutely gargantuan demonstrations showed the extent of the popular support for it, the recall happened. Very strangely, it failed.
Scientists conducted studies posthumously and said the numbers didn’t add up. Locals said their votes were improperly counted or were programmed to vote for Chavez, not his ouster. One theory held that the voting totals were flipped.
The recall was monitored by Jimmy Carter’s Carter Center, which came out and said all was free and fair, having seen everything for themselves with the small exception of what went on ... in the totalization room. Fraudulent or not, the opposition was shocked, having had its own monitors that found otherwise, but its concerns were dismissed by those who viewed them as rich whites out of touch with vast dark-skinned Venezuelan masses, who still supposedly loved Hugo Chavez. Maybe it was true, some good reporters, such as Juan Forero of the New York Times, who was there, thought so. But the perception of fraud left the opposition so shocked and silent it boycotted the next local election in late 2005.
By default, Chavez and his Chavistas then took full power in the legislative elections and ran with it, socializing the country even more, coopting the courts, the food supply, the industries, the internet, the once-free press, driving the latter out of business, or forcing television stations to sell to Chavista outlets at rock-bottom prices.
“Two, fraudulent elections, and even the perceptions of fraudulent elections matter even more....
Lesson: Fraudulent, or at least rigged, elections lead to even more horrible consequences than legal elections and once they happen, there is no return. Once fraud became the order of the day, government grew even more unaccountable and tyrannical.
Three, immigration matters...
Four: Crime matters...
Five: Chavez may have been a failure, but it didn’t matter, because his regime was forever...
Does that hold lessons for us? In the era of Joe Biden, eerily so. The international left, and the left in the U.S. has long admired the Chavez model under the rubric of helping the people, but that Chavez model is Cuba in a more developed form. The handouts are long gone and the people are now fleeing. Will that same model be replicated here?
Suddenly, Venezuela’s history looks pretty relevant.”
A nation, a people, a culture must continuously strive to reduce the power of government.
Government is like a virus, the DNA of which is to spread and grow until it kills the host.
You can vote your way into socialism, but you will have to fight your way out.
Terrifying article.
We call for the full restoration of democracy and political freedoms in Venezuela. [Applause.]...the same wonderful speech during which he called Kim Jong Il “Rocket Man”, whereupon his traitor chief-of-staff John Kelly facepalmed in front of world media.
The problem in Venezuela is not that socialism has been poorly implemented, but that socialism has been faithfully implemented. [Applause.]
From the Soviet Union to Cuba to Venezuela, wherever true socialism or communism has been adopted, it has delivered anguish and devastation and failure. Those who preach the tenets of these discredited ideologies only contribute to the continued suffering of the people who live under these cruel systems.
America stands with every person living under a brutal regime. Our respect for sovereignty is also a call for action. All people deserve a government that cares for their safety, their interests, and their well-being, including their prosperity.