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We haven’t checked in on Venezuela for a while. Formerly one of the world’s richest countries, Venezuela has become destitute since it was taken over by socialists Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro. The country has gone downhill in an ever-worsening spiral of poverty and dysfunction. Things have gotten so bad that American liberals no longer hold up Venezuela as an example of “real socialism.”
The London Times reports:
[T]his is a country still suffering the trauma of the most spectacular currency collapse of our times. The Venezuelan bolivar, which in the 1960s was considered as solid a store of value as the Swiss franc, is now worth less than the paper it is printed on. If you converted a million dollars into bolivars in 2013 — when Nicolás Maduro first came to power — and left it in an interest-accruing Venezuelan bank for the past decade, your current balance would be about 3 cents.
Let’s hear it for socialism! And also for money-printing. Venezuela kept printing currency until it could no longer afford the paper and ink, but how different is that from the path our own government is currently on?
All this became glaringly apparent during an especially precipitous period of the downward spiral, during 2018 and 2019. With annual inflation touching two million per cent, a brick of notes was needed to buy a sandwich. The government ran out of the ink and paper physically needed to print more money.
Debit cards, along with bartering, became essential; with everyone from coconut sellers in the Caribbean to barbers in Caracas using cheap card readers to make transactions. But banks were slow to keep up with the devaluation, failing to raise their limits per transaction. Buying just a few items in a supermarket could therefore require three or four bank cards.
Life under socialism isn’t just poor and violent, it is crazy, too.
In mid-2019, the Maduro government quietly threw in the towel and allowed people to officially use US dollars. It turned out to be a transformational moment, taming price rises and bringing in some stability.
At least 60 per cent of retail transactions in Venezuela are believed to be in dollars, either in cash or with cards.
So the viciously anti-American kleptocrats are rescued, sort of, by the American dollar. But the damage is done, as Venezuela’s economy has shrunk by 75%. The last word:
[One Venezuelan] lamented, “Nobody’s got any money. There’s nothing much left to steal.”
I suppose the kleptocrats long for the good old days, when there was still something in Venezuela worth stealing. Chavez’s daughter Maria Gabriela, a perfect exemplar of leftism who represented Venezuela in the United Nations, made off with a cool $4.2 billion. But she was a piker compared to her father’s Treasury Minister, Alejandro Andrade, who slipped away from Venezuela with $11.2 billion in Swiss banks. As I wrote back in 2015:
If you want a world in which a few obscenely rich jet-setters lord it over a sea of poor people, socialism is the ideology for you.
But even those halcyon days have come to an end, as “[t]here’s nothing much left to steal.” It is as Margaret Thatcher memorably said: the problem with socialism is that eventually, you run out of other people’s money.
Argentine President Javier Milei asserted in an interview on Sunday that he "would not have any problem" imposing diplomatic sanctions against Venezuela's socialist regime, suggesting he would be willing to convince other countries to support similar measures.
The post Argentina’s Milei Suggests Rallying Latin America to Sanction Venezuela After Biden Failure appeared first on Breitbart.
Venezuelans burned an effigy representing socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro and other "opposition" collaborationist figures on Easter.
The post Venezuelans Burn ‘Judas’ Maduro Effigy in Easter Tradition appeared first on Breitbart.
A report in Colombian media accused Venezuela of using the brutal Tren de Aragua gang to persecute dissidents abroad.
The post Report: Venezuela Using Brutal Tren de Aragua Gang to Hunt Down Dissidents Abroad appeared first on Breitbart.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday blasted President Joe Biden and his administration for continuing dangerous immigration policies, including secretly dumping illegal immigrants around the United States without alerting local or state officials via a humanitarian parole program.
The post Ron DeSantis Blasts Biden Dumping Illegal Immigrants Across U.S. appeared first on Breitbart.
Leonel Moreno, the Venezuelan "migrant influencer" known for instructing fellow migrants on how to take advantage of American "squatter's rights," is now complaining of "persecution" as he sits in jail.
The post Venezuelan ‘Migrant Influencer’ Claims ‘Persecution’ from Jail After Arrest appeared first on Breitbart.
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Tareck El Aissami, former Venezuelan oil minister, has resurfaced in handcuffs, charged with treason, money laundering, and corruption.
The post Socialist Purge: Venezuela Charges Hezbollah-Linked Former Oil Minister with ‘Treason’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Venezuela's socialist regime announced this week the launching of a reality television show called M Factor, where local musicians will compete to have their songs become part of dictator Nicolás Maduro's official soundtrack for the upcoming sham presidential election.
The post ‘The M Factor’: Venezuela Launches Reality Show to Pick Theme Songs for Maduro’s Sham Election appeared first on Breitbart.
Chilean far-left President Gabriel Boric recalled his ambassador to Caracas, Venezuela, on Thursday after the socialist regime there denied the existence of the Tren de Aragua transnational criminal organization.
The post Leftist Chile Recalls Envoy to Venezuela After Regime Denies Existence of Tren de Aragua appeared first on Breitbart.
The ruling socialist regime in Venezuela documented an 18-percent increase in oil output in the first trimester of 2024 when compared to the same period in 2023, according to information published by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in its latest April 2024 report.
The post Venezuela Oil Production Grew 18% After Biden Sanctions Relief appeared first on Breitbart.
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Venezuela's socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro attempted to issue a message in English to U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday to discuss the upcoming expiration of Biden's generous oil and gas sanctions relief package to his regime.
The post Venezuela’s Maduro Sends Devastating Message to Biden in English: ‘I You Want I Want I You to Want I Do Want’ appeared first on Breitbart.
LNG Energy Group, a Canada-based company owned by billionaire Texas businessman Rodney Lewis, brokered a deal with Venezuela's PDVSA.
The post Report: Billionaire Texas Oilman Inks Deal to Revamp Venezuela’s Onshore Oil Fields appeared first on Breitbart.
Leftist Latin American and Caribbean heads of state gathered in Caracas, Venezuela, condemned Israel on Wednesday for committing a "genocide" in Gaza through its self-defense operations against Hamas.
The post Latin American Leftist Summit Focuses on Trashing Israel, Support for Hamas appeared first on Breitbart.
Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich asserted that the Tren de Aragua's operations are "not autonomous" from Venezuela's regime
The post Argentina Security Chief: Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua Gang Is a State-Sponsored Terrorist Organization appeared first on Breitbart.
The Chicago Police Department has made more than 1,000 arrests of Venezuelan migrants in the first three months of 2024, crime data reveals.
The post Sanctuary City Chicago: Police Made More Than 1,000 Arrests of Venezuelan Migrants in 2024 So Far appeared first on Breitbart.
The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances warned in a report Tuesday of an alarming rise in enforced disappearances of Venezuelan citizens committed by the socialist regime since December 2023.
The post U.N. Says Venezuela Rapidly Disappearing Dissidents Ahead of Sham Election appeared first on Breitbart.
An upcoming Caracas-Managua flight route operated by the Venezuelan state-owned Conviasa airline will increase the flow of migrants trying to reach the United States, according to a report published by the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa on Wednesday.
The post Report: Venezuela’s State-Owned Airline Will Fly U.S.-Bound Migrants to Nicaragua appeared first on Breitbart.
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