‘People in Venezuela are scared to vote,’ say expats in Canada

Venezuela is yet another object lesson in the evils of socialism.  Venezuela has the world’s largest known oil reserves and has been one of the world’s leading exporters of oil.

Nonetheless, despite that vast wealth, it has been crippled by a South American version of the socialist ideology that has plagued other countries.

The so-called “Bolivarian Revolution” led by the late Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, sought to build a mass movement to implement Bolivarianism—popular democracy, economic independence, policies of wealth redistribution, and an end to political corruption.

The failure of these policies could have led them to be abandoned.  But as is so often the case, the failures have been used as a pretext to consolidate power.  This has happened under Nicolás Maduro, who was elected in 2013 after the death of Chavez.

Continued economic problems under his regime has lead to malnutrition, shortages in the basic necessities of life, the rise of crime and corruption, and regular political protests since 2014.

Maduro justifies the crackdown of popular dissent as the defence of his country.

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