Venezuelan Dictator Nicolás Maduro now says that Venezuela’s socialist economic model has failed, amid massive power outages, food shortages and lawlessness across the country.
For years, Venezuela received praise from the likes of Sean Penn, Michael Moore, Jeremy Corbyn and Noam Chomsky. The Hugo Chavez model of authoritarian socialism has gained such popularity in Latin America that Mexico just elected Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a seasoned politician who is promising Venezuelan-type socialism for Mexico.
Volatility in the oil market over the past 5 years has rocked Venezuela’s economy, which was largely dependent on oil exports to pay for a massive social welfare state. Since this collapse began, the average Venezuelan has lost 19 lbs.
#Venezuela Dictator Nicolas Maduro – "the Maduro diet makes you slim and strong" #FreeVenezuela pic.twitter.com/GeA1dK63BX
— Michael Welling (@WellingMichael) May 31, 2017
Maduro’s rampant human rights violations and involvement in international organized crime has drawn the ire of the Trump Administration, who has moved to imposed massive sanctions against the rogue Venezuelan regime. The US Department of the treasury has imposed restrictions against the purchase of Venezuelan debt by US investors and has even gone as far as to impose restriction on Venezuela’s official cryptocurrency. Several reports have also suggested that President Trump suggested a US military invasion of Venezuela.
At present, 93% of Venezuelan households report that they cannot afford to buy food, as inflation surges past 13,000%.
