Caracas, Venezuela: A Real Mess
First impressions of the Venezuelan reality.
I just left Venezuela after living in a poor barrio in Caracas for two weeks.
The country is already mired in chaos and is heading towards a never ending catastrophe.
It’s nice to engage in wishful thinking but a quick visit to Caracas by arm chair Socialists and Communists can sort things out.
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I lived in Rio de Janeiro.
I taught in a favela.
Never in my life did I ever feel less safe as in Caracas. I am sad to say.
Never did i experience such a collective mania of fear and tension.Growing up in a religious family, I later rejected religion due to lack of belief in dogma.
I refuse to accept any other dogma, Socialist, Anarchist, Communist or otherwise.
IÂ will not bury my head when it comes to reality.Venezuela has many amazing people and there are many empowered communities. But the crime, violence, inflation, corruption and fear are out of control.
This can only mean that either the government and the so-called Bolivarian revolution is a populist scam or we are dealing with wholly incompetent people in power.
Just because i have issues with Capitalism, does not mean I will embrace Madness. And what is going on in Venezuela is Madness.
I am not one to exaggerate. I’ve been under bombing and rockets after all. I was in the military.
Never felt as unsafe as in Caracas.
I experienced there collective fear, collective depression, collective anxiety, collective violence.
just because it is a collective, doesn’t mean it is comfortable.
-The Venezuelan people historically, recently and presently bravely resisted imperial domination
-The US and the local oligarchy are heavily involved in an economic war and war by other means against the country (the Colombian government too).
-The current Venezuelan government is engaging in populism, appealing to the poor majority while not seeking to solve the deep issues that plunge the country
-A significant number of people, including the poor, are abusing the system and bringing down the economy
-The government and its organs are deeply compromised by either those who serve imperial interests, are corrupted or seek to remain in power
-Maduro is engaging in cheap rhetoric, constantly pointing fingers at the US while doing very little to truly put an end to the violence, corruption, mismanagement and cheap subsides that are being abused by some of the poor.
-The middle class and genuine economic growth have been destroyed
-The Chavismo cult which allows people to develop a blind faith rather than a critical approach to where things stand today is damaging any genuine improvement in the lives of people. Yes, the poor have better lives, but violence has expanded significantly and inflation is unprecedented.
-Due to the electoral process, the government provides free goods to the poor majority in order to get reelected while not serving the entire country or the general economy at large.
-Due to traumas of past imperial invasions and meddling, many buy the cheap government rhetoric instead of coldly analyzing the mismanagement and incompetence of the Maduro government.
