Hugo Chavez And Leftist Victory

Darling of the international left, friend of Hollywood, and Fidel Castro's toy poodle

We've had dozens of arguments with lefties over the years about this nutter. They really expected great things of him, while we on the right were having the usual gut-rumbles about Communism.

Over ten years have gone by since he was first elected. Venezuela has been transformed by leftist statism in the expected way.
Wherever it gains nearly unopposed control of the organs of the state, leftism starts with a country that has problems (as all do), and ends up with an impoverished downward-spiraling shithole. Always.

Always.

The inflation rate in Venezuela is around 30%, corruption is rampant, and the national media are routinely bullied and censored by Chavez's government.

Police and courts in Venezuela have shown more of an interest in punishing Chavez's critics than prosecuting real criminals.

Henrique Capriles, governor of Miranda, a state encompassing parts of Caracas, told reporters last week Chavez worsened the problem by cutting funds for state and city governments led by political opponents, then removing thousands of guns from their police forces after losing regional elections.

An estimated 93% of murders are never even investigated.

So Venezuela is now one of the deadliest nations on Earth. Far more dangerous than Iraq, or any war zone in the world, for that matter.

And it's not even close. In 2009 in Iraq, there were 4,644 violent civilian deaths. In Venezuela, according to figures attributed to the Venezuela Observatory of Violence, the number was 16,047. Even that figure is probably on the low side. A leaked government report says the number is over 19,000.

The terrorized citizens' appeals for basic law enforcement have been answered with bullshit, not action.

President Chavez says Venezuela's capitalist past is to blame[emph. me -ed.] for the high crime rates

"In the 1980s and 90s, the young had little access to education or work. Prisons began to overflow with young people, many of whom became involved in drugs and drug trafficking. Unfortunately, those habits continue," said Mr. Chavez.

Mr. Chavez says socialism will reduce inequalities - what he sees as the root cause of crime.

That darn capitalism (which somehow was competent enough to keep the violent crime rate down to a fourth of what Venezuela currently 'enjoys.'). That's what the problem is.

Socialism does indeed reduce inequalities. It has consistently reduced diverse people to roughly equal-sized piles of ashy bones the world over.

The photo below is a picture of the recent former Miss Universe. This very lovely and brave lady is holding up a pre-Chavez era Venezuelan flag during her final turn on the stage. This was an act of quiet protest against the Chavez regime.

Bitter clinger.

Oh, another thing about Chavez, lefties? Human Rights Watch. Not a fan.

Another glittering jewel in the crown of International Leftism. All easily predicted by the Right, ten years ago.

Well done, assholes.

Thanks to Jazz, over at Butter Chicken.

posted by Laura. at 02:16 PM

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