Venezuelans are suffering terribly from the regimes of Chavez followed by Maduro. They have the right of revolution to end the socialism imposed by these two leaders.
Venezuela is another tragedy, socialist-caused tragedy, that was entirely predictable. (See here, here and here.)
One lesson to be learned by us and everyone is that direct government control of money by a Treasury is highly inflationary, much more inflationary than a central bank; not unless there are severe restrictions on money issue, but since the government controls any such constraints, the system of direct government issue of money (not being metal) faces unlimited pressures to increase the money supply. This doesn’t necessarily result in hyperinflation, as historical cases show, but the pressures are ever-present. In other words, there are even worse inflationary monetary systems than the Federal Reserve setup!
Chavez instituted a socialist dictatorship, and Maduro has continued it and the socialist policies, causing the immense suffering in Venezuela. Why hasn’t Ms. Ocasio-Cortez spoken out for the people of Venezuela? It’s because she’s a socialist and their suffering is being caused by socialist policies of Chavez and Maduro.
In understanding the situation in Venezuela, its causes, Trump’s and the U.S. government’s role in Venezuela (past and present) and other nations must be kept separate as much as possible from the Venezuelan socialist-made tragedy. The CIA, the State Department and pressures from Pence, Rubio and Trump did not cause the huge crisis in Venezuela. How the U.S. handles the matter now and has handled it in the past are legitimate subjects of inquiry, but the policies of socialism should not be absolved of their destructive effects by blaming imperialism.
At this moment there is a divide among countries supporting or not supporting an alternative president in Venezuela (Juan Guaidó). The story is unfolding, and conflicting narratives along political fault lines have emerged. This blog is not directed at that debate, which is already shaping up. A new state struggling to emerge from revolutionary conditions seeks recognition by already existing states in order to legitimize itself. This is a longstanding fact of the world’s system of states. The external states may or may not extend recognition, or they may wait to do so. This depends upon all sorts of political factors. There exists a spectrum of measures that external states have at their disposal, ranging from recognition to aid to sanctions to calling in the “Marines”. All of this should not be confused with the conditions that caused the revolution in the first place. In Venezuela’s case, the socialism of Chavez and Maduro bears full responsibility for ruining Venezuela’s standard of living and causing the people to suffer greatly.
9:05 am on January 24, 2019
