The Maburro regime blaming the gringos: as pas for the course. HARRP, top SEAL secret squadrons bombing the power stations, gremlins, hackers breaking through Venezuelan top of the line encoding, sure, there are many possible scenarios…for a B grade movie.
But seriously, one by one the power stations are blowing up. Interestingly, all power stations are heavily guarded by the military and have been under military jurisdiction since Chaves. Mmm.
Simple explanation is corruption and lack of maintenance. But the whole thing?! And the Maburro regime blowing it themselves to do what? They do not need the cover of the night to siphon off all gold and dollars from Venezuela. MMM.
Riots and supermarket sacking have started, people without food or communications. Cannot quantify the dead yet, as even for the hospitals it is hard to keep track of the dead by normal tear and wear, plus lack of medication and violence… then add no power.
But we certainly have a lot of people insisting on the Interweb it is all a lie, there is power as usual, everything is fine, all is normal and working well…
For the eleventh time: we have had this kind of idiots without socialism. heck, half Central America is as capitalist as China. It is the dicatorship, don´t blame the theories that have never, like Communism, lived outside of books. By sheer definition, all these guys are fascists, their enterprise is drugs, that is the only difference. “Socialism”, or rather what these guys sell as snake oil, “bolivarism”, is just an excuse. It si all to their pockets.
In social democracies, you have circulation of capital and goods. You do not have a government pushing for a parallel universe of smuggled goods. The 5000% inflation is the doing of their idiocy, and that kind of idiocy has happened many time sin Latin America with purely capitalistic regimes.
Again, they could call themselves pastafarians, it is just makeup and excuses and snake oil. And that takes many forms.
I have to agree with Icon here: most governments that proclaim themselves as “Communist” are in reality textbook Fascists, the hallmarks being tight control of the economy by the State, for the benefit of the State; and a big dose of quasi-religious claptrap to justify it.
There’s an interesting historical/philosophical link between Catholicism and Fascism, just as there is between Islam and, uh, mutilating women and blowing shit up. Google it.
Like Islam, Catholicism is both a religion and a political philosophy: it was originally conceived as a means to use religion to keep the masses firmly under the jackboot, using a classic carrot-and-stick approach that has yet to be bettered in its efficacy. Virtually every country that had the misfortune to be subjugated by Catholics has developed (or stagnated) on the same dysfunctional path. The only exception I can think of is Poland, but I suspect the difference there is that Catholicism has developed into a more egalitarian and unifying force than it has in ex-colonies like the Americas, perhaps modulated by Protestant memes from neighbouring countries.
You keep bringing up Chile as an example of a successful society. Ask Chileans about the murder of their people who live in lands coveted by big corporations…owned by the government people. Same as the rest of Latin America. More like China, a small group benefiting, this time from preaching capitalism and success by work and dream big productivity…on behalf of a few. Different color skin people do not exist. All unde rthe great Catholic church, no abortions, women´s rights what´s that,e tc. ad nauseum.
Like Venezuela in the past, with the same wildfire waiting to explode underneath the surface.
Unfortunately, it all comes down to the basic structures. Until rule of law, access to education and means of production, and respect to human righst are established, plus weaning the whole country out of the export model, then we can talk about some progress. Real progress.
Don´t hold your breath. It was supposed to go through that phase 60 years ago, 911. the socialist democracy was expunged, so now we will have the fake one. It is the only thing that can grow out of murderous inequality. When life becomes worthless, the siren calls beacon…
I would say the current “República Oriental del Uruguay” is best as far living standards now days (maybe not 50 years ago) and freedom / openness. Place feels a lot like Southern Europe . Nice place nowdays along with BA across the river.
