Most Americans are aware of the political and social chaos that has engulfed Venezuela, but how often do we hear the horrifying details about what’s really going on in the collapsing socialist state? How often does the U.S. media promote American socialist politicians like Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders instead of showing what socialism actually looks like and the lives it destroys?
BBC News has published a compelling video that shows the destruction wrought by a six-day blackout on the country, as told by native Venezuelan and journalist Vladimir Hernandez.
“Without any power you can’t buy food. You can’t get fuel for a generator. Hospitals are struggling to keep on working,” Hernandez begins the video.
“It’s a country in darkness. People are dying.”
Text then appears in the video, reading, “This is what a blackout looks like. Venezuela’s had one for six days.”
Hernandez implores viewers to understand this isn’t just a story to him, it’s personal.
“This is like the walking dead. This is like living in the apocalypse.”
“You can’t go to a cash machine. You can’t get on the internet. You cannot go to a shop and buy something you need,” Hernandez says.
Sick and dying children might be suffering the worst.
“I’ve been speaking to doctors in different hospitals and they tell me how much of a struggle it is to keep, for instance, intensive care equipment going,” Hernandez says, heartbreakingly.
“So children with intensive care equipment had to be switched off. But when I asked ‘What happens to them in the meantime?’ She was like, ‘Well, they are in the hands of God.'”
Hernandez says that part of the enduring stress of Venezuela’s collapse is that there is really no way to check on friends and relatives because “the mobile phone systems are down.”
How bad is it? No one really knows. “I still don’t think we know how deep of a problem it still is because some regions are virtually out of reach,” Hernandez says.
The video shows a woman stockpiling water and cooking whatever food she has immediately so it doesn’t go bad.
In 2017, native Venezuelan Andres Malave recounted similar horrors in his home country in an essay at Investor’s Business Daily:
“In practical terms, Venezuela’s misery means that it is not uncommon to see children rummaging through the garbage for food. And as basic medical supplies and medicine run dangerously low, newborns and the elderly die unattended in Venezuelan hospitals.”
“These heartbreaking scenes are difficult for anyone to bear, but for me, it’s personal,” Malave wrote. “I know many Venezuelans who held out hope that this ’21st Century’ form of socialism would turn out better than the 20th century version, but their dreams were quickly dashed.”
Today, prominent Democrats try selling a newer and better socialism to the American people. But there is no such thing. All socialism ends the same way, and it ends badly. We can’t just pretend the 20th century didn’t happen. We can’t pretend the current chaos in South America isn’t happening.
That we must learn from the mistakes of the past so we don’t repeat them is a cliche for a reason.
Amid a historic uprising in Venezuela, where opposition leader Juan Guaidó is attempting to overthrow socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro, some Venezuelan expatriates here in the United States have a dire warning for American socialists: don't do it.
Wanting to know if the people who support socialism had ever heard from people who’ve suffered under it, Campus Reform's Cabot Phillips headed to a Venezuelan Freedom rally in Washington, D.C. earlier this year. It soon became abundantly clear that the Venezuelans in attendance were horrified by the idea of bringing socialism to the United States. Asking them, “What is your message to those who want socialism here,” the attendees were in agreement: don’t do it. “You do not ever want anything close to socialism,” one attendee said, while another added, “people are eating from trash cans in the streets, so how has socialism helped?”Another attendee, whose family is still in Venezuela, said, “No Venezuelan can like socialism, because we’ve seen it put in place very well.”
What else did they have to say? Watch the full video:
Maduro forces riding around in their military vehicle literally plow into a crowd of protesters in the middle of the street, running them over:
!!! Intense clashes, a Venezuelan military vehicle just drove into a crowd of civilians on the highway. #Venezuelapic.twitter.com/pcSTd3TwMf— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) April 30, 2019
This coup appears to be going in full force – it must be if Maduro’s henchmen feel the need to run over protesters in the middle of the street like this.
You can clearly see that this isn’t some accident either. The vehicle crosses the media for the sole purpose of attacking these people.
It’s Tiananmen square all over again. And it’s horrific.
UPDATE: A few hours ago this video was taking showing massive crowds headed for Maduro’s palace in Caracas:
#BREAKING: Massive movement in Caracas, #Venezuelatowards the presidential palacepic.twitter.com/H7ldu9t0IH— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) April 30, 2019
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