◼ Why Venezuela's Chaos Matters to Us - Israel Ortega/HeritageL The Foundry
Venezuela has many crises, but when inflation has doubled in the past year and basic necessities like toilet paper and electricity are lacking, the people revolt. Led by the young, charismatic, and American-educated opposition party leader Leopoldo Lopez, thousands of Venezuelans are taking to the street to voice their discontent.
Their frustrations are directed squarely at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro—a Hugo Chavez protégé who is happily embracing totalitarianism and telling supporters, “I’m not going to step down…..No one will remove me from the path of building the Bolivarian revolution.”
The White House’s response has been a predictable, cookie-cutter statement devoid of any urgency or meaningful substance. But then again, this is precisely what we have come to expect from one of the least engaged and capable Administrations when it comes to advancing our country’s interests on the global stage.
From Egypt to Syria to Libya, to name a few, the White House’s lack of preparedness and vision has cost our country dearly, including the loss of four American lives in the Benghazi attack on our diplomatic missions. As John Fund wrote, this shouldn’t surprise us. As an Illinois state senator, President Obama voted “present” 129 times, previewing a reflection of his foreign policy approach.
◼ Here’s What You Need to Know About a Crisis the Media Are Accused of Ignoring - The Blaze
Venezuela is on fire.
Civil unrest brought on by the dictator Nicolás Maduro’s treatment of his people has rocked the country.
Hundreds of protesters have been injured and at least 3 have even been killed by government forces, the Associated Press reports. However, information coming out of the nation is scarce.
Images that have leaked out of the country are eerily similar to what we are seeing unfold right now in Kiev, Ukraine.
However, as noted by Venezuelan journalist Francisco Toro, there’s one major difference between Venezuela and Ukraine: The media seemingly aren’t interested in covering the former.
For some, the silence surrounding Maduro’s brutal suppression of his own people is a little startling.
◼ The Game Changed in Venezuela Last Night – and the International Media Is Asleep At the Switch - Francisco Toro/Caracas Chronicles
What we have this morning is no longer the Venezuela story you thought you understood.
Throughout last night, panicked people told their stories of state-sponsored paramilitaries on motorcycles roaming middle class neighborhoods, shooting at people and storming into apartment buildings, shooting at anyone who seemed like he might be protesting. People continue to be arrested merely for protesting, and a long established local Human Rights NGO makes an urgent plea for an investigation into widespread reports of torture of detainees. There are now dozens of serious human right abuses: National Guardsmen shooting tear gas canisters directly into residential buildings. We have videos of soldiers shooting civilians on the street. And that’s just what came out in real time, over Twitter and YouTube, before any real investigation is carried out. Online media is next, a city of 645,000 inhabitants has been taken off the internet amid mounting repression, and this blog itself has been the object of a Facebook “block” campaign.
What we saw were not “street clashes”, what we saw is a state-hatched offensive to suppress and terrorize its opponents....
As of 11 a.m. this morning, the New York Times World Section has…nothing.
◼ Is any one surprised? - Daniel In Venezuela
There is no telling the funk I am this morning. Never in my life I thought that I would have to live in a declared dictatorship. But after last night, this is what it is, a bona fide fascist dictatorship.
Now, the only thing that surprises me is that there are people that are surprised, people that try to minimize, people that have no clue yet. Truly, de Nile springs eternal....
The country is about to suffer economic collapse.
This is the way I followed the highlights of Capriles speech, since he is not on TV and my Internet is too feeble for watching it on line.
Now you all stop crying, all stop complaining, all stop telling the student what they should or should not do: it is time that we all assume our responsibilities and act according to them to the best of our limitations. The time of surprise is gone, the time of reality is in. We are past de Nile.
