The Spectre of Venezeula

[Di Wundrin]

Haven't really kept up on this shambles, but it is worth knowing what happened there, and why, and what is happening now!

South America has it's own very different kind of political circus but there are parallels for all as their recent history isn't all that different to that of the PIGS in Europe. There are no saints involved, just all the usual suspects manipulating countries for money or profit or both.

No sides taken. Just a heads up that sometimes the perceived cure is far worse than the disease that it was meant to treat.

First a Rundown on how it all happened. I chose this piece from the Guardian as that seems to be the only source that committed Leftists will even look at.
It's a sobering piece that must have been hard to write. It's never easy admitting that you read things wrongly. But cheers for the author for doing that.

Quote:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...n-chavismo

...cherry picked extract ... careful what you wish for advice.
Bolding mine.

But what of Chávez? Did he sow the seeds of Maduro’s downfall? And did his good intentions blind me and others to dangerous failings in his government? Did I think centralisation of power was a price worth paying? Did I forget that oil prices also fall ? Did I downplay abuses I would have denounced with a more rightwing government? Despite my best efforts, I suspect that I did.

If it’s true that “the left outside Venezuela can help rebuild the movement by participating in an honest accounting of what went wrong”, then admitting and learning from our own failures is a necessary first step.

And here is the true story of what happens when the freebies barrel runs dry.
Venezuela was making billions from their oil, but their government was in hock to foreign interests to provide their people with 'the good life', the welfare, the free health, all cost a lot but when the price of oil fell so did the level in the government coffers and the first to feel the crush were the most vulnerable.
Venezuela was in much same position we are being manoeuvered into, being dependent on foreign suppliers. They couldn't even use their own oil ... oh wait, neither can we, we have 3 weeks backup supply because we have no oil refineries to produce fuel to keep us running.
No fuel, no trucks, no tractors, no crops, no food in supermarkets, no power, no lights no services, no money, = jungle roools.

Of course it's all down to the corrupt or abysmal stupidity of our politicians, but they've put us in the position of not needing to be invaded.
All China or anyone need do is blockade the oil tankers and we are stuffed! Of course they can speed that up by hacking down our communications too.

Now ... who should we vote for again???

But it'll just be taken as a "scare campaign" so I won't continue, if you can't read the tea leaves in what happened to the PIGS and Venezuela then welcome to Mad Max World. Hope you don't have to be the one to eat the last Koala.

Any feelz for these abandoned oldies??

Maybe Phelps will go over and medicate them??

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsod...-venezuela

[dbeyat45]

"First a Rundown on how it all happened. I chose this piece from the Guardian as that seems to be the only source that committed Leftists will even look at."