As Paul noted earlier today, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó has taken to the streets with Venezuelan soldiers and others to try to bring about the final downfall of socialism in that country. But Nicolás Maduro, Hugo Chavez’s legitimate heir, is not going quietly. This video shows armored vehicles under the command of Maduro’s socialist government running down pro-freedom demonstrators:
Novelist Brad Thor comments:
This is why the government will NEVER get my guns https://t.co/ZPi2K1QihI
— Brad Thor (@BradThor) April 30, 2019
It is tempting to think that a hopelessly corrupt and incompetent socialist government cannot possibly survive, but it isn’t that simple. Socialism is a path to rapid wealth and power for people who, in an open society, may be barely employable. Hugo Chavez’s daughter and finance minister escaped with billions of dollars in Swiss bank accounts. It is easy to understand why Maduro and his chief henchmen think that they, too, should become socialist billionaires. So the stakes are high.
Ambassador John Bolton has weighed in on behalf of the Trump administration:
The US will consider sanctions off ramps for Venezuelan officials & military members who take concrete, measurable steps to support democracy & freedom in Venezuela. Maduro’s cronies should accept Interim President Guaido’s offers of amnesty & work with us to secure their future.
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) April 30, 2019
One way or another, my sense is that the end of Venezuela’s disastrous experiment with socialism is close at hand. But will that cause Democratic presidential and Congressional candidates to re-think their commitment to the same failed socialist principles? Of course not.
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