"It's Not A Coup!"- What's Really Going On In Venezuela

Socialist loving liberals keep claiming that what is happening in Venezuela is a coup backed by the American government. The dire situation in that country, both economic and political, also caused by United States interference.

Comedian/writer/actress Joanna Hausmann, a Venezuelan/American living in New York puts that fallacy to rest in the video below where she explains what is really going on over there. And it's not the fault of the big bad imperialist United States of America and its unholy goal of oil dominance.

Hausmann says:

"What is happening in Venezuela is NOT a U.S. backed coup"

"This is not a fight between the Venezuelan Right Wing and the Venezuelan Left Wing. This is a fight of the great majority of Venezuelans to democratically get rid of an illegitimate and punitive dictatorship. A dictatorship of countless human rights issues"

"The people of Venezuela are seeking fair democratic elections using the laws written in our constitution."

"Juan Guaido did not just declare himself president out of nowhere, that is not how it works."

She then explains who Juan Guaido is, and how he was elected as an "interim" president until democratic elections can be held. She then delves into why Nicolas Maduro is "illegitimate" and why the elections were considered "illegitimate" by the international community as a whole, including some European socialist countries.

As for Maduro's alleged popularity in Venezuela?

"80 percent of Venezuelans disapprove of Maduro's government.." 

"He took the minimum wage from $350.00 a month to $7.00 month."

"Inflation hit 1.7 million percent in 2018."

"According to U.N. projections over 5 million people have left the country causing a refugee crisis of Syrian proportions. That's more than 10 percent of the Venezuelan population."

A while back I was talking to a friend who lives in Colombia who told me about the huge influx of refugees pouring into that country from Venezuela. Hausmann's claims are true.

As for all that money from the Venezuelan oil industry, one of the largest reserves in the world?  Stolen by politicians and others with ties to Maduro and Chavez, which is usually what happens with communist/socialist oligarchies. Those ruling at the top have all the money and privileges, while the 'people' get a pittance.

From a Miami Herald article last year:

A web of former Venezuelan officials and businessmen was charged in Miami Wednesday with operating a massive $1.2 billion international money-laundering racket funded with stolen government money that was invested in South Florida real estate and other assets.

The defendants are accused of embezzling funds from Venezuela’s vast oil income and exploiting its foreign-currency exchange system to amass illegal fortunes in the United States and other countries, according to a federal criminal complaint.

The complaint describes a Venezuelan government culture in which officials, politicians and businessmen connected to President Nicolás Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chávez, have plundered the national oil company, PDVSA, to enrich themselves while impoverishing the South American country.

But the Socialist loving lefties blame the ills in Venezuela not only on the U.S. but Israel and the Saudis as well.

Ronda on Twitter is convinced that we- along with the Israelis and Saudis- are responsible for the demise of the Venezuelan economy.

⏳╰☆ 💕☆𝓡𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓪☆ 💕☆╮ ⏳

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The US, Israel, and Saudi purposely manipulated oil prices, to crash the Venezuelan economy! Saudi flooded the market with oil, even taking a lose for Wall Street and Tel Aviv. It has nothing to do with socialism and everything to do with the greed of a few.

Many lefties happen to be anti-Semitic as well, so not surprising they blame Israel.  Ronda also happens to be an anti-Israel, pro-Pali tool.

Sadly, you can't change their minds.



If Joanna can't convince you, what about this from Foreign Policy-  they endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016.

James Bloodworth has this to say about how "the left keeps getting Venezuela wrong."

Venezuela is engulfed in a government-inflicted economic crisis twice the size of the Great Depression, which has provoked the largest movement of refugees in the recent history of Latin America. Meanwhile, the regime that has presided over this catastrophe is morphing from a nasty autocracy to a potentially full-blown dictatorship.

[snip]

Yet much of the Western socialist left has persisted in ignoring the trajectory of Venezuela in order to sustain a fantasy of “21st-century socialism.” It’s reminiscent of the Western apologists for the Soviet Union that Arthur Koestler once compared to peeping Toms “who watch History’s debauches through a hole in the wall” while not having to experience it themselves.

This willingness to stand by a brutal dictator—albeit passively—belies a deeper sickness on the contemporary left. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, few on the left have had much real idea as to what a contemporary socialist economic program would—or should—look like in practice.

Although he is also critical of those on the right who he claims are glomming on to the current affairs in Venezuela in order to paint the modern Socialist movement as a failure.  It's definitely worth a read.



H/T: Bob from Brockley.

Venezuelan Opposition On The Road To Victory

I was wondering how long it would take the Venezuelan people to wake up and realize that Hugo Chavez's Socialist 'Chavismo' movement was far from the promised utopia, and was actually keeping them impoverished and desperate. I guess they finally got tired of the food rationing, and the toilet paper shortage.

It took a good long 16 years, but things are looking up for the Venezolanos. It seems that even Chavistas were finally so fed up that in the latest elections the opposition Democratic Unity won a whopping 99 seats versus 46 seats the Socialist party won in the National Assembly.

About time!

There is also renewed hope that the next presidential elections will see an opposition leader take the reigns of the country and bring back economic and political stability. Henrique Capriles perhaps? You might remember Chavez's smear campaign against Capriles during the 2012 elections. Current president Nicolas Maduro can't be too happy.

More on the story here.

Congratulations to Venezuelan people for finally making the right choice!

And we have fools here who are actually pro-socialist Bernie Sanders.

Venezuela Starts Food Rationing

Hugo Chavez must be proud as he looks up from his privileged place in hell to see his beloved Venezuela has finally joined two other communist countries- Cuba and North Korea - in food rationing. There have always been shortages, but this is official. Good luck finding basic staples like oil, milk, rice, coffee, chicken, diapers. To make sure no-one cheats, they are now using a fingerprinting machine.

Despite its technological twist on the old allotment booklet, Venezuela’s new program of rationing is infuriating consumers who say it creates tiresome waits, doesn’t relieve shortages and overlooks the far-reaching economic overhauls the country needs to resolve the problem.
[snip]

The government rolled out the system last month across 36 supermarkets in this western border state, Zulia, whose capital is Maracaibo, with a recent expansion into a select number of state-owned markets in Caracas.

Venezuela is turning to rationing because of shortages caused by what economists call a toxic mix of unproductive local industry—hamstrung by nationalizations and government intervention—and a complex currency regime that is unable to provide the dollars importers need to pay for basics.

Oil prices have plummeted, which will cause Venezuelans even more grief. Some blame the government:

“The government is the one that lets the problems flourish,” said Eliseo Fermín, an opposition member of Zulia’s state congress. “Now the average citizen bears the brunt.”

The government blames smugglers, claiming the commie price-controlled products are smuggled out and sold in Colombia for a profit.

Though economists estimate that about 10% of Venezuelan consumer merchandise winds up in Colombia, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has said that the figure is 40%. He has closed checkpoints along the whole 1,375-mile border at night to stem the flow, and a crackdown on smugglers has led to the arrests of shoppers that officials believe to be planning to sell what they purchase in Colombia, say border guards.

“It is the responsibility of everyone to unite against contraband,” Zulia Gov. Francisco Arias, a member of Mr. Maduro’s Socialist Party, said on a recent TV show. He and other officials say fingerprinting prevents bulk buying for resale more effectively than requiring shoppers to show their national identity cards, a method that is used to track and limit purchases in some Caracas stores.

Water is also rationed. Sometimes up to 108 hours a week.

And automotive fuel.  Scanners  make sure drivers fill up only twice a week.

Maybe by the next election the people will be so fed up they'll make the right choice. Or not.  After all cheap food is a good thing, even though you can't find any.

The story here.

Toilet Paper Shortage In Venezuela

It seems that things aren't going so great in the utopian socialist land of the late Hugo Chavez. Nope. There have been shortages of all sorts of goods, but now the people are having a devil of a time finding toilet paper. Naturally, current Prez Nicolas Maduro blames the opposition, when it actually has to do with Chavez's implementation of price controls.

Either way, the people are not happy about the idea of not having something to wipe their bums with.

Venezuelans scrambled to stock up on toilet paper Thursday as fears of a bathroom emergency spread despite the socialist government's promise to import 50 million rolls.

After years of economic dysfunction, the country has gotten used to shortages of medicines and basic food items like milk and sugar but the scarcity of bathroom tissue has caused unusual alarm.

"Even at my age, I've never seen this," said 70-year-old Maria Rojas. She said she had been looking for toilet paper for two weeks when she finally found it at a supermarket in downtown Caracas.

Thousands of rolls flew off the store's shelves as consumers streamed in and loaded up shopping carts Thursday morning.

"I bought it because it's hard to find," said Maria Perez, walking out with several rolls of paper.

"Here there's a shortage of everything — butter, sugar, flour," she said. But the latest shortage is particularly worrisome "because there always used to be toilet paper."

Economists say Venezuela's shortages of some consumer products stem from price controls meant to make basic goods available to the poorest parts of society and the government's controls on foreign currency.

The country is a mess.  But it has been for a long time, thanks to Chavez and socialism.

Read more here.

As for the TP shortage, maybe they should follow Sheryl Crow's 'one square' per restroom visit.  Or better yet, vote the Chavistas out come next election.

US "Far-Right" Wants To Kill Capriles", Chavez Helped Pick Pope and Other Maduro Lunatic Thoughts

More fun stuff from Venezuela.

Hugo Chavez will not be embalmed and permanently displayed for all to see after all. It looks like they started the process too late, which means he has probably started to decay.  Apparently, it wasn't Hugo's idea in the first place. According to an embalmer from Colombia, Camilo Jaramillo, Chavez just wanted to be buried in his hometown of Sabaneta. Vice President (now acting Prez ) Nicolas Maduro also mentioned that the idea of permanent display had been suggested by visiting leaders and his own love for his comandante.

Maduro also happens to think that Hugo had something to do with the latest Pope pick.

"The debate was between an African and a South American pope," Nicolas Maduro said, after taking part in a group prayer at a book fair in Caracas.

"I don't know, but we know that our commander ascended to those heights and he's face-to-face with Christ," said Maduro. "He had an influence for the choosing of a South American pope. Some new hand came in and Christ declared: 'Well, South America's time has come'."

Of course Pope Francis I, formerly known as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, is actually of Italian heritage. His dad was born in Italy, and although his mum was born in Argentina, her parents hailed from Italy.
Maybe it had more to do with the fact that 40% of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics live in South America. Besides, I sincerely doubt Chavez is hanging out with the angelic crowd.

And last but certainly not least, Maduro has already demonstrated how unhinged he is by accusing the West (most notably the U.S.) of poisoning Chavez, now the man is claiming that the U.S. "far right"  have their sights set on opposition leader Henrique Capriles Radonski. Yes, Republicans are plotting to assassinate Capriles.

Venezuela's acting president said on Wednesday that "far right" figures in the US were plotting to kill opposition leader Henrique Capriles in an increasingly volatile atmosphere ahead of an April 14 election.

"We have detected plans by the far right, linked to the groups of (former Bush administration officials) Roger Noriega and Otto Reich, to make an attempt against the opposition presidential candidate," Nicolas Maduro said.

Maduro is so concerned about Capriles's well being that he sent one of his men to meet with Capriles's people.  Right. This is the same man that Chavez launched a vicious smear campaign against during the last Venezuelan elections. The same man the U.S. right was rooting for. I know I was.

Noriega dismissed the whole thing as "absolute nonsense", saying:

"They call you what they are and they accuse you of doing what they do. That is the way they operate."

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Maduro and his henchmen were planning on killing Capriles, and then blaming it on the evil right-wing Yankees.

So lets see, Maduro thinks Chavez was poisoned by his U.S. 'enemies', persuaded Jesus to get a Latino Pope elected, and is convinced the U.S. "far right" wants Capriles dead- when it's more than likely it's Maduro they want out of the picture. And this man could be the next official Venezuelan President?

God help us. He's as wacko, if not more so, than Chavez.

Chavez Poisoned By Enemies- Says VP Maduro

Although the world was finally told of the passing of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez,  I have a feeling it might have happened a tad earlier than officially announced- considering the veil of secrecy surrounding his illness towards the end. When a series of photos of Chavez surfaced after his most recent cancer surgery, an L.A. based digital animator posted on Youtube his 'evidence' that the photo of Chavez with his daughters reading a dated 'Granma' newspaper were, in actuality, photoshopped. So we still don't have any definitive proof how long he was alive after the last surgery, not that it matters now. He died of his cancer, and all the loons are blaming the U.S.

When he was alive, Chavez was convinced that the U.S. gave him and other leftist Latin leaders cancer, including Argentina's Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, until it turned out her thyroid wasn't cancerous at all. And just prior to the announcement of Hugo's demise, Vice President Nicolas Maduro accused "enemies" (like the U.S.) of having poisoned his comandante, after it was revealed that Chavez had developed "a new, severe" respiratory infection.

“We have no doubt that Commandant Chávez was attacked with this illness, we have not a single doubt,” Maduro said. “The established enemies of our land specifically tried to harm the health of our leader.”

Maduro said he will order the creation of a “scientific commission” to look at this alleged conspiracy that Chávez was sickened through medical means.

“We already have leads, which will be further explored with a scientific investigation,” Maduro said.

Arafat died in 2004, less than a month after coming down with “flu-like” symptoms. Conspiracy theorists and some Palestinian leaders suggest that Arafat was poisoned medically by Israeli operatives.

“There have been too many cases throughout history, including the most recent, of the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, it’s widely known that was poisoned medically.”

Of course, the fact that there was no access to Chavez by foreign operatives prior to the respiratory infection means naught. And no mention of the fact that Yasser Arafat died from HIV/AIDS, at least according to his personal doctor Ashraf al-Kurdi.

And these people rule countries.