Hasta la Vista, Socialism?

Venezuela’s catastrophic experiment with Bernie Sanders/Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez style socialism appears to be drawing to a close. Mass demonstrations against the Chavez/Maduro regime have broken out across the country:

The Venezuelan Army, which has kept the socialists in power through brute force–how else does a socialist government ever maintain control?–appears to be wavering. Today, President Trump recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido, the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, as interim President of Venezuela. Trump’s move was followed by Brazil, Argentina, Chili, Canada, Peru, Colombia, Paraguay, Ecuador, Guatemala and Costa Rica. Of course no one can say it in polite society, but this is one of a number of impressive foreign policy successes the Trump administration has scored.

When Adam Smith said that there is a lot of ruin in a country, he was unfamiliar with socialist military dictatorships. In the old days, the 17th Century, say, government had to be careful not to impoverish the masses, lest it be kicked out, king and all. The amount of ruin in a country–what it takes to depose a failed tyrannical state–has risen substantially since socialist governments learned the techniques of spying, torture and mass murder.

Still, the time comes when people have nothing left to lose, and are willing to rise up against Ocasio-Cortez style tyranny. That is what we see in Venezuela today. Ordinary people were hunting rats to eat for dinner–often unsuccessfully, since the rodents were in demand–and hadn’t seen a roll of toilet paper in years. Millions of Venezuelans hiked to, and across, borders with neighboring countries, seeking an alternative to tyranny and starvation. That is what it takes to finally evict the socialist government of Bernie Sanders’ dreams. And, as far as I know, not a single prominent member of the Democratic Party has cheered what looks like the end of Venezuela’s long national nightmare.

One who has cheered the end of the homicidal Chavista tyranny is Marco Rubio. He has been active on social media, encouraging Venezuelans to reclaim their freedom from the Left. I think he has a lot of influence in that country, and I would tell you what he is saying to Venezuelans, only I don’t speak Spanish. But I am pretty sure his message is that Venezuelans should throw off their socialist chains and claim the freedom that they deserve.

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