The New York Analysis of Policy and Government concludes its review of the media’s silence on the Venezuelan crisis.
Human Rights Watch found that “By [Socialist leader Hugo Chavez’s] second full term in office, the concentration of power and erosion of human rights protections had given the government free rein to intimidate, censor, and prosecute Venezuelans who criticized the president or thwarted his political agenda. Many Venezuelans continued to criticize the government. But the prospect of reprisals – in the form of arbitrary or abusive state action – forced journalists and human rights defenders to weigh the consequences of disseminating information and opinions critical of the government, and undercut the ability of judges to adjudicate politically sensitive cases.”
By any measure, Venezuela should be one of the planet’s most prosperous nations. An oil producer since 1914, it has, according to OPEC, more oil resources than any other nation. It faces no significant military threats. Even with the current decline in oil prices, the nation should have an economy that produces, at the very least, a decent standard of living.
America’s Quarterly notes that “During the 1970s, Venezuela was the richest country in Latin America. With the region’s highest growth rates and the lowest levels of inequality, it was also one of the most stable democracies in the Americas.”
It has a diverse, educated population. Axis of Logic notes that “The standard of education in Venezuela is among the highest in the region. Of Venezuelans aged 15 and older, 93.4% can read and write, one of the highest literacy rates in the region. The literacy rate in 2003 was estimated to be 93.8% for males and 93.1% for females. Anthony Spanakos notes that a study of Venezuela indicates that “Venezuela not only had a relatively well-educated population in the 1980s, but that education increased throughout the period in which growth decreased.”)
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As shortages of food and basic items such grow ever worse, the population desperately clashes with the socialist government. NBCreports that “Clashes between protesters and security forces erupted in Venezuela during marches have taken place in at least 12 cities across the country. “Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets to protest the government of President Nicolás Maduro…A teenager who was shot in the head in Caracas near one of the protests has died in the hospital, according to the Associated Press…The country entered its fourth week of protests following two Supreme Court decisions — to revoke the immunity that protects legislators and to dissolve the opposition-controlled legislature, a move that many including the Organiza tion of American States (AOS) dubbed as an ‘auto-coup d’etat’.”
Writing for CATO in 2014, Juan Carlos Hidalgo reasoned that “Milton Friedman once said that, if you put the government in charge of the Sahara desert, there’ll eventually be a shortage of sand. No wonder that, after 14 years of socialist government, Venezuela — the country with the world’s largest oil reserves — is currently importing gasoline. This fact highlights Venezuela’s painful descent into chaos, as the economy crumbles and the nation’s social fabric unravels. Socialism has turned Venezuela into an authoritarian basket case that thousands try to escape every year.”
James Bloodworth, a commentator who tends to lean to the left politically, in an article published in the U.K. Sun newspaper, notes “When it comes to the pinch, socialists will always sacrifice liberty for the ostensible promise of greater equality, these right wingers will say. While so many ‘progressives’ are happy to turn a blind eye to the abuses of the Venezuelan government, it is hard to disagree with them.”
Allen West asks “…where are the American entertainment elites and advocates of socialism now?…There is nothing trendy, cool, or desirable about socialism. And those who advocate it are, well, let me be blunt, lying, deceptive jackasses…The ugly face of socialism has destroyed the beauty of Venezuela, turning what could be termed a little piece of heaven on earth into hell.”