Growing up in Caracas in the seventies the future seemed bright, Latin America was the future and I would be part of it...
Now Latin America is in a time loop (mostly) in which corrupt business and criminals (is crime ever really organized or do we give them more credit than they deserve) serve themselves with the big spoon...
I can't help but take a whack at the media for its starry eyed glorification of Ortega, Kirchner, Chavez, Maduro, AMLO, Lula and so on and so forth. Simplified, the strategy is bread and circus and when that doesn't work it is everybody else's fault.
As you will know Ioan, my biggest beef of all is that the "left" is given a pass when sensible presidents like Felipe Calderon are blamed for increasing crime because they built up the institutional capacity to limit their activities.
Good to hear from you John and I had no idea you grew up in Caracas. Imagine the hope then and this rather grim reality it has become.
I think the mainstream media coverage on these issues is a bit more complex. Chavez got a lot of press because he attracts it like Trump but also a lot of criticism. AMLO has been clobbered pretty hard by elements of the English-language media. The Calderon presidency got mixed coverage - I was personally was hitting the drug war hard then so it showed a bad side, but then things have come out since like Garcia Luna. But I agree sometimes a boring headline and good news like building improvements doesn't get into the info-tainment cycle. Anyway, all best there friend and stay in touch.
Thanks for the reply Ioan, my strategy is to stay in Canada until the apocalypse ends...
On Garcia Luna there may be further developments in the future... I haven't seen any evidence against him other than hearsay from cartel members looking to reduce their sentences!!! But I wouldn't put my hands in the fire for any of them.... the wiliest crook was Medina Mora... but he got his in the end!!! I remember him forever moaning about his salary as ambassador to London...
Ahh, Canada. Is that a nice place to be there? I was surprised by the lack of evidence at the Garcia Luna trial to be honest, but still believe he was guilty. His request for a re-trial was just thrown today and his lawyer said he was going to appeal...
I barely knew him.... believing someone guilty is a bit different than proving he was guilty.... on balance the odds favour him being guilty but the only evidence is oral testimony from some very dodgy geezers... i also have suspicions about the way he was indicted... he never saw it coming... and it was under the Trump presidency and I suspect AMLO asked for a favour in return for the new trade deal that he doesn't care about... what he is interested in is showing his own righteousness.... which is hard as he doesn't have any.... get AMLO talking about La Chingada... i feel like Canada is a quiet place where I gently work for some Indigenous Nations... funnily enough I find the First Nations to be remarkably Mexican in their culture outlook and mannerisms....
Yeah they are all over the Americas now thanks to that moron maduro. Colombia has the highest percentage I believe. Mexico too. They are all over the border towns like juarez and tijuana. You don't think Mexicans get tired of migrants too? Heck even some in Los angeles now
There are a fair number of Venezuelans in Mexico City, including a lot of professionals - I know lawyers and doctors here from Venezuela. A lot of the poorest fled to closer by Colombia, Peru, and Chile. A big exodus... In the U.S., they call Doral - Doralzuela - This is a boost to the Republicans though with a lot of very anti-left exiles...
The number of Venezuelan immigrants here in Salt Lake City where I live has simply exploded in the last several years. This is certainly not scientific, but it seems as if I meet as many Venezolanos here as I do Mexicanos, which is pretty staggering. The speed of the population growth is unlike anything I've ever witnessed. I can't imagine how rough things must be there right now.
Very interesting. Are any becoming Mormon like some immigrants there I wonder? (I did a talk in Salt Lake a few years ago and had a great reception there. Nice place)
Pretty much everything here relates to the LDS Church in some way. The population of state of Utah is still 70% Mormon. So I'm sure there is a Mormon connection for a lot of immigrants, but there's also just the normal story you hear as well--"I had a cousin who came here because he had work lined-up, so when I finally came to the US I followed my cousin." (Or brother, uncle, best friend, etc.) Have a good weekend brotha!
It pisses me off even more here in the free developed "west" of the United States you see young college kids with che guevara t shirts. These people never experienced true hardship like you see in Venezuela. I admit that the United states has a long history of "imperialism" or "intervention in Latin America through our monroe doctrine which fates back to the 19th century. It was basically coined by James monroe to oppose any kind of European re conquest of the Americas. Right after all the colonies and dominions of the Americas grained their independence from Spain. It has meant different things throughout time. We used it to go to war with Spain and free cuba and Puerto Rico. We used it to take the panama canal. We used it to help the pro juarez rebels kick out the second french empire out of Mexico. And of course during the cold war we used the school of the Americas to help with leftist insurgency and counter the influence of the soviet union. Our relationship with the western hemisphere is incredible complex and can't just be summed up to "American imperialism" that's too naive and simplistic. That's why I don't like leftist thinkers. Sorry for the long paragraph
The long paragraph and all your insights are very welcome friend. This is space for deep discussion not Twitter. I agree the truth is complex and nuanced. When I was young and dumb I believed simpler black and white things but I was mugged by morality. I fear though that the internet and its model of journalism favors the simpler emotionally satisfying takes rather than the real complexities - but we can keep seeking...
An interesting analysis even better because you were actually there. Thanks for filling in some blanks. I had pretty much put it down to “the guy who controls the military stays in power”.
Sure thing, I'd like to - although my English to Spanish pipeline is a bit slow at the moment and I need to speed it up. Why is there someone you'd like to send it to? Best there DonDon.
Thanks, yeah I need to figure out if I can get a quicker pipeline on the Spanish language pieces - I have also had offers to publish them elsewhere. Back soon...
Thanks much there Carlos. Yeah, there are so many contradictory things happening in the world today it can be hard to know where we are. The north star of truth can help perhaps. Un abrazo.
It has been incredibly sad seeing the so called Bolivarian revolution slowly gain traction, finally get a victory, lift so many people out of poverty, just to then crash and burn, plunging Venezuela into so much misery and chaos.
I vividly remember as a young teen how hopeful the early days of Chavismo were, and thinking "in 10-20 years, all of Latin America will be beautiful, rich, and developed." Bruh.
Well appreciated there OriginalFlamingo - Yeah, it is very disillusioning. But I think it is important to recognize the truth if we have hopes of making anything better. All best there friend in Chilangolandia.
It is a sad situation. I visited Venezuela in 2003 and saw Chavez speaking at a huge Independence Day rally in Caracas. After visiting projects and speaking to lots of people (not all of whom backed the government) I was very impressed with Chavez and his politics. Tragic to see how it has turned out for the people.
I migrated in 2004, right after the failed coup, on 23 January. While I am deeply moved by what has happened and continues to happen, I have to admit that we never learned how to manage our good fortune. We invested in the best people in the 70s and the 80s to have the most excellent economy based on oil, but at the same time, we did little to take care of people, seeding resentment among people. Caracas was a beautiful city. Our political leaders stabbed each other in the back for political gains, as it continues happening in different government spheres. Culturally, but not individually, ethics have been absent in Venezuela long ago; it was not imperialism.
Thanks and very interesting insight. I wonder if Venezuela would have gone into a mess even without Chavismo - that it's a deeper problem with the people managing the country. All best and stay well friend.
Chavismo aimed to promote a different type of intellectualism in the country but instead caused significant disruption because it lacked dialectic structure. Chavez was like a teenager looking at the images of his first Playboy magazine, alluding to the way he displayed his fascination with Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. It struggled to effectively replace the intellectuals, engineers, doctors, and other professionals who formed a substantial part of the opposition. Consequently, Chavismo's efforts often led to conflicts with these groups and contributed to a decline in expertise within essential sectors. I knew people who replaced others in PDVSA who never had the credentials or the experience. We had good managers and leaders, but I am not saying everything was perfect. Nevertheless, in other spheres of the government, ethics was always a problem. I believe the collapse was inevitable, but it was the resentment at the end.
Hey there Enrique - Sure, I am watching it. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about it but to be honest I am cautious about stepping into commentary on this - as it is a big complex cauldron and as a journalist and commentator I think we need to limit ourselves sometimes. But I will say it is heartbreaking. All best there friend.
I respect that approach. I see what limited coverage American media is providing, and I do mean limited. Most of what I’ve seen is on social media, so I take it with a grain of salt, and I’m not sure what exactly the real issue is. Thank you for the quick reply though. I’m a huge fan of your work, it’s excellent! Keep it up and God bless!
Well appreciated Enrique. I might in the future get more into the issue - yeah, I sympathize with you that it can be hard to fathom these stories these days. I will say I think the problems in the UK have sadly become deep rooted and I think more trouble is to come (although I hope I am wrong). All best friend and keep in touch.
Hey Amigo, I am out of the jungle for once and in Mexico City to cover CPAC. Let's connect. I read the Narco-Pentecostalism article you co-wrote, and have a lot to add. We spoke once of doing a Pentecostal perspective of Santa Muerte religion and occult elements of narco groups.
Lots of Christians support using the apparatus of government to fight crime, including deviant religion, and fighting it without government sanction if necessary. The Narco-Pentecostalism article painted this foundational Western belief in a negative light, as something that only criminals subscribe to. You can message me on this platform or at GospelGunslingers.com
The United States government has been conducting a campaign of regime change in Venezuela for over 25 years. Economic sanctions, propaganda, private military contractors and outright coup attempts have not worked. Venezuela is not only coveted by multi-national corporations for it's huge oil reserves but the United States government is obsessed with destroying any country they deem to be socialist, communist or any ideology opposed to their control. The "Monroe Doctrine" is the guiding principle of domination over the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. All American intelligence agencies, State Department and military have contingency plans to use in Venezuela and they have been a disaster.
The biggest mistake was the coup attempt against Hugo Chavez. Chavez's strength was always underestimated particularly with the poor in Venezuela. After kidnapping Chavez, in 48 hours he was back in power after a huge display of defiance against the coup. The coup was financed through the The National Endowment for Democracy, another front for CIA policies, who distributed over 1.5 million dollars to anti-Chavez labor and political groups. These groups had convinced themselves and their US masters that Chavez had no support. The consequence of this coup was the paranoia that Chavez had about the military and Chavez started aligning himself with private security contractors who were in essence remnants of FARC and drug paramilitary groups from Columbia. That was the beginnings of narco influence in Venezuela. Chavez either chose to ignore the drug trafficking or allowed it to bring in additional currency to counter the effects of various sanctions conducted by the United States and countries influenced by the United States.
The Trump administration escalated the attempts against Venezuela to the most aggressive level. The Trump administration was actively involved with planning and discussions with Silver Corp, probably a Blackwater offshoot. to overthrow Maduro and replace him with a no name, non-entity politically in Venezuela,, Juan Guaido. The plan was so bad even the CIA could not endorse it but they also did not stop it. This coup was the Bay of Pigs for Venezuela a disaster from the opening step. The private military contractor group from Russia, the Wagner group had been in Venezuela since 2018 and may have been involved in protecting Maduro from elements of his own military. This lack of success prompted the Trump Administration in evoking even more draconian sanctions against Venezuela which has been estimated to cause 100,000 deaths from the economic destruction brought by these sanctions.
The current coup has been financed the same way as the Chavez coup. with payments, grants made to the same pro US groups. Within three days after the election, the United States said the election was a fraud and Maduro should not be in power. Now it seems the rural support is gaining control for Maduro. By the way there has been absolutely no evidence ever of any voter fraud and no evidence has even been presented to any regional or international court. No pretension whatsoever of US motives. Regime change or else.
The CIA can be active in any country's affairs without being obvious. In many situations they are the puppeteer but in South America they are still active with two attempted coups just in Bolivia in less then 6 years which ended up in failure. Granted the CIA is still very busy in the Ukraine brokering numerous military hardware deals that they get a piece of. So you can understand a little lack of activity in the Americas.
The types of intimidation by the United States has achieved nothing except increasing the dictatorial instincts of the leaders of Venezuela. Sanctions force a country into looking for alternative cash and outlets to sell their products. Venezuela has now been able to cash in on their oil by finding countries like Iran and Russia to purchase their oil. Also drug trafficking is made even more lucrative to destroy the economic consequences of sanctions. Sanctions leave no room for any international compromise and creates no possibility of any change in Venezuela. United States again does no want compromise. Submission is the policy of today.
Thanks there Tom - I was interested in what your thoughts would be on Venezuela and you lay out a comprehensive response. You make some good points about a higher level of U.S. intervention, which I should have got deeper into in the piece - and I will follow up that lead on the financing of the 2002 coup. But I think as well as this, the Venezuelan government clearly massively mismanaged the economy in the 2010s and has been authoritarian. The malnutrition and lack of food stems from price fixing and expropiated farms that failed to produce - the initial sanctions were more on targeted individuals as it lays out here - https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-04-19/how-us-sanctions-have-affected-venezuela.html - I agree though sanctions that have increased don't work and hurt the poor. I think two things can be true here - The U.S. can undermine countries and they can also be authoritarian. As you spell out, these can be connected. Best.
The economic statistics of Venezuela before the election of Chavez is interesting. From 1983-1998 real income fell by 14% in a country already corrupt and a huge divide in equality of income. According to the Inter-American Development Bank, 68% of Venezuelan's were below the poverty line in 1998. Unemployment that year was 11.2 percent and inflation was 35.8%. Because Chavez was able to improve many areas of the economy, the necessity of a coup became an urgent desire. Corruption in Venezuela was by the very same supporters of the coup. When you look at the so-called mismanagement of the economy that is exactly what the opposition of Chavez wanted to create. The opposition was facing an agrarian revolt and revolution by the poor. The poor farmers and rural workers were opposed to a modern, mercantilist economy that had failed and passed them by. The initial sanctions that were instituted by the US against certain government individuals was a political smokescreen for actually a massive attack on Venezuela's economy, trying to completely discredit the Chavez regime. The actions by the United States closely mirrored the actions taken against Allende in Chile. Both were revolutions against a corrupted elite who were not willing to compromise with any reduction of their power or economic status. That is still the standoff in Venezuela now and it is only Maduro's support among the rural poor that still keeps him in power.
These types of revolutions do not engender any democratic government or society. To demand an equal society against the extreme nature of inequality and economic control and corruption is damn near impossible by democratic means. And of course, the United States obsession with supporting political and economic dictators destroys any fantasy of a democratic process.
Sr, i live and born in Venezuela. I see how you put the finger in usa goverment exactly.like the regime does.
No body canake you rape,torture and kill, no body but your self. This is venezuelan goverment today, and 15 years agos and 20 years ago.
Only grew his power step bt step.
Dont make anybody less poor, make all poors and some richest than any fantasy can make.
Some in the middle are "enchufados", peoples with bussines innthe goverment.
Don't belive in excuses chaves have a buget make at 60$ per barrel and "disapear" the rest of the money with a berrel of oil at 120$ .
The corruption is impresive, even the food in Bad shape is send to the population for make mor bussines.
Give weapons at groups of gansters for kill studens, make thousands die for not have medicins in hospitals.
And this is my very single day, with my mother .
And was a middle clasd, now gardener or electrician with and income to short for anything more than some food.
Nobody support the regime , i see the last elections, i see in very first person.
The another candidate have 30% over the actual "president". And i live very fart from a city, this is land of farmers, no more.
And yes this is socialismust, the same from cuba,nicaragua, libia and so on...
Never abandon the power without blood, the colectivismus is not democratical by definition, when some body tell you, i am the people, i am the comandant, i am the hart of a nation...run or kill, this day no more freedom you can see.
I hope, this dont sent me to jail, here, but i can't read more excuses for a dictatorship.
Growing up in Caracas in the seventies the future seemed bright, Latin America was the future and I would be part of it...
Now Latin America is in a time loop (mostly) in which corrupt business and criminals (is crime ever really organized or do we give them more credit than they deserve) serve themselves with the big spoon...
I can't help but take a whack at the media for its starry eyed glorification of Ortega, Kirchner, Chavez, Maduro, AMLO, Lula and so on and so forth. Simplified, the strategy is bread and circus and when that doesn't work it is everybody else's fault.
As you will know Ioan, my biggest beef of all is that the "left" is given a pass when sensible presidents like Felipe Calderon are blamed for increasing crime because they built up the institutional capacity to limit their activities.
But nobody cared about that boring headline.....
Good to hear from you John and I had no idea you grew up in Caracas. Imagine the hope then and this rather grim reality it has become.
I think the mainstream media coverage on these issues is a bit more complex. Chavez got a lot of press because he attracts it like Trump but also a lot of criticism. AMLO has been clobbered pretty hard by elements of the English-language media. The Calderon presidency got mixed coverage - I was personally was hitting the drug war hard then so it showed a bad side, but then things have come out since like Garcia Luna. But I agree sometimes a boring headline and good news like building improvements doesn't get into the info-tainment cycle. Anyway, all best there friend and stay in touch.
Thanks for the reply Ioan, my strategy is to stay in Canada until the apocalypse ends...
On Garcia Luna there may be further developments in the future... I haven't seen any evidence against him other than hearsay from cartel members looking to reduce their sentences!!! But I wouldn't put my hands in the fire for any of them.... the wiliest crook was Medina Mora... but he got his in the end!!! I remember him forever moaning about his salary as ambassador to London...
Ahh, Canada. Is that a nice place to be there? I was surprised by the lack of evidence at the Garcia Luna trial to be honest, but still believe he was guilty. His request for a re-trial was just thrown today and his lawyer said he was going to appeal...
I barely knew him.... believing someone guilty is a bit different than proving he was guilty.... on balance the odds favour him being guilty but the only evidence is oral testimony from some very dodgy geezers... i also have suspicions about the way he was indicted... he never saw it coming... and it was under the Trump presidency and I suspect AMLO asked for a favour in return for the new trade deal that he doesn't care about... what he is interested in is showing his own righteousness.... which is hard as he doesn't have any.... get AMLO talking about La Chingada... i feel like Canada is a quiet place where I gently work for some Indigenous Nations... funnily enough I find the First Nations to be remarkably Mexican in their culture outlook and mannerisms....
Say hello to another caraqueño, but still in Venezuela.
Yes, Caracas in the seventies were the future, at least for so many Spanish and latin professionals...
A nostalgic and sad thing to remember
1️⃣ out of 4️⃣ Venezuelans🇻🇪 has been forced to migrate. About 8️⃣ million people (that’s more than the exodus of Syrians🇸🇾 for civil war).
Today 1️⃣/3️⃣ consider to join & migrate away⚠️ That is another 8️⃣ million.
1️⃣ out of every 2️⃣ could end up living abroad‼️ Heart breaking💔
Yeah, the exodus has been incredible - a quarter of the country!
Yeah they are all over the Americas now thanks to that moron maduro. Colombia has the highest percentage I believe. Mexico too. They are all over the border towns like juarez and tijuana. You don't think Mexicans get tired of migrants too? Heck even some in Los angeles now
And Peru.
There are a fair number of Venezuelans in Mexico City, including a lot of professionals - I know lawyers and doctors here from Venezuela. A lot of the poorest fled to closer by Colombia, Peru, and Chile. A big exodus... In the U.S., they call Doral - Doralzuela - This is a boost to the Republicans though with a lot of very anti-left exiles...
The number of Venezuelan immigrants here in Salt Lake City where I live has simply exploded in the last several years. This is certainly not scientific, but it seems as if I meet as many Venezolanos here as I do Mexicanos, which is pretty staggering. The speed of the population growth is unlike anything I've ever witnessed. I can't imagine how rough things must be there right now.
Very interesting. Are any becoming Mormon like some immigrants there I wonder? (I did a talk in Salt Lake a few years ago and had a great reception there. Nice place)
Pretty much everything here relates to the LDS Church in some way. The population of state of Utah is still 70% Mormon. So I'm sure there is a Mormon connection for a lot of immigrants, but there's also just the normal story you hear as well--"I had a cousin who came here because he had work lined-up, so when I finally came to the US I followed my cousin." (Or brother, uncle, best friend, etc.) Have a good weekend brotha!
Kind of like the cuban exiles who became big time Republicans in Florida. But we definitely have some bad eggs.....
Yeah, and add some Nicaraguans to the mix. Gotta love Florida!
Yeah Florida definitely rivals California in Latin diaspora.
California 🇲🇽
Florida 🇨🇺
Tacos vs cuban sandwiches lol
Incredible statistics.
It pisses me off even more here in the free developed "west" of the United States you see young college kids with che guevara t shirts. These people never experienced true hardship like you see in Venezuela. I admit that the United states has a long history of "imperialism" or "intervention in Latin America through our monroe doctrine which fates back to the 19th century. It was basically coined by James monroe to oppose any kind of European re conquest of the Americas. Right after all the colonies and dominions of the Americas grained their independence from Spain. It has meant different things throughout time. We used it to go to war with Spain and free cuba and Puerto Rico. We used it to take the panama canal. We used it to help the pro juarez rebels kick out the second french empire out of Mexico. And of course during the cold war we used the school of the Americas to help with leftist insurgency and counter the influence of the soviet union. Our relationship with the western hemisphere is incredible complex and can't just be summed up to "American imperialism" that's too naive and simplistic. That's why I don't like leftist thinkers. Sorry for the long paragraph
The long paragraph and all your insights are very welcome friend. This is space for deep discussion not Twitter. I agree the truth is complex and nuanced. When I was young and dumb I believed simpler black and white things but I was mugged by morality. I fear though that the internet and its model of journalism favors the simpler emotionally satisfying takes rather than the real complexities - but we can keep seeking...
All these countries in Latin America can't just blame the CIA for all their problems too.
True that. And the CIA did do a lot of dirty shit - in Latin America, the rest of the world and the U.S. itself..
Yes.
An interesting analysis even better because you were actually there. Thanks for filling in some blanks. I had pretty much put it down to “the guy who controls the military stays in power”.
Thanks much there Daniel. Venezuela is quite a labyrinth when you get into it, but yeah the military running things is a big part of it...
Well, military has economic incentives to maintain the situation...
Yep, the business man general
Are you going to do a version of this story in Spanish?
Sure thing, I'd like to - although my English to Spanish pipeline is a bit slow at the moment and I need to speed it up. Why is there someone you'd like to send it to? Best there DonDon.
Yes, a close friend from Venezuela who left and became a US citizen, has family still there.
Thanks, yeah I need to figure out if I can get a quicker pipeline on the Spanish language pieces - I have also had offers to publish them elsewhere. Back soon...
Ioan, thankyou. You have helped me understand rationally what I was just sadly feeling.
Thanks much there Carlos. Yeah, there are so many contradictory things happening in the world today it can be hard to know where we are. The north star of truth can help perhaps. Un abrazo.
Another banger of an article, Ioan.
It has been incredibly sad seeing the so called Bolivarian revolution slowly gain traction, finally get a victory, lift so many people out of poverty, just to then crash and burn, plunging Venezuela into so much misery and chaos.
I vividly remember as a young teen how hopeful the early days of Chavismo were, and thinking "in 10-20 years, all of Latin America will be beautiful, rich, and developed." Bruh.
Cheers from CDMX!
Well appreciated there OriginalFlamingo - Yeah, it is very disillusioning. But I think it is important to recognize the truth if we have hopes of making anything better. All best there friend in Chilangolandia.
It is a sad situation. I visited Venezuela in 2003 and saw Chavez speaking at a huge Independence Day rally in Caracas. After visiting projects and speaking to lots of people (not all of whom backed the government) I was very impressed with Chavez and his politics. Tragic to see how it has turned out for the people.
Thanks much there Jim. Indeed a tragedy how will for change and promise turned to Misery.
I migrated in 2004, right after the failed coup, on 23 January. While I am deeply moved by what has happened and continues to happen, I have to admit that we never learned how to manage our good fortune. We invested in the best people in the 70s and the 80s to have the most excellent economy based on oil, but at the same time, we did little to take care of people, seeding resentment among people. Caracas was a beautiful city. Our political leaders stabbed each other in the back for political gains, as it continues happening in different government spheres. Culturally, but not individually, ethics have been absent in Venezuela long ago; it was not imperialism.
Thanks and very interesting insight. I wonder if Venezuela would have gone into a mess even without Chavismo - that it's a deeper problem with the people managing the country. All best and stay well friend.
Chavismo aimed to promote a different type of intellectualism in the country but instead caused significant disruption because it lacked dialectic structure. Chavez was like a teenager looking at the images of his first Playboy magazine, alluding to the way he displayed his fascination with Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. It struggled to effectively replace the intellectuals, engineers, doctors, and other professionals who formed a substantial part of the opposition. Consequently, Chavismo's efforts often led to conflicts with these groups and contributed to a decline in expertise within essential sectors. I knew people who replaced others in PDVSA who never had the credentials or the experience. We had good managers and leaders, but I am not saying everything was perfect. Nevertheless, in other spheres of the government, ethics was always a problem. I believe the collapse was inevitable, but it was the resentment at the end.
Thank you for writing this! We hope to have a free Venezuela again, soon!
Appreciated and sharing your hopes. Best Lilipod.
Just curious, are you watching what’s happening in the UK re: riots, and what’s your take on it?
Hey there Enrique - Sure, I am watching it. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about it but to be honest I am cautious about stepping into commentary on this - as it is a big complex cauldron and as a journalist and commentator I think we need to limit ourselves sometimes. But I will say it is heartbreaking. All best there friend.
I respect that approach. I see what limited coverage American media is providing, and I do mean limited. Most of what I’ve seen is on social media, so I take it with a grain of salt, and I’m not sure what exactly the real issue is. Thank you for the quick reply though. I’m a huge fan of your work, it’s excellent! Keep it up and God bless!
Well appreciated Enrique. I might in the future get more into the issue - yeah, I sympathize with you that it can be hard to fathom these stories these days. I will say I think the problems in the UK have sadly become deep rooted and I think more trouble is to come (although I hope I am wrong). All best friend and keep in touch.
Hey Amigo, I am out of the jungle for once and in Mexico City to cover CPAC. Let's connect. I read the Narco-Pentecostalism article you co-wrote, and have a lot to add. We spoke once of doing a Pentecostal perspective of Santa Muerte religion and occult elements of narco groups.
Lots of Christians support using the apparatus of government to fight crime, including deviant religion, and fighting it without government sanction if necessary. The Narco-Pentecostalism article painted this foundational Western belief in a negative light, as something that only criminals subscribe to. You can message me on this platform or at GospelGunslingers.com
The United States government has been conducting a campaign of regime change in Venezuela for over 25 years. Economic sanctions, propaganda, private military contractors and outright coup attempts have not worked. Venezuela is not only coveted by multi-national corporations for it's huge oil reserves but the United States government is obsessed with destroying any country they deem to be socialist, communist or any ideology opposed to their control. The "Monroe Doctrine" is the guiding principle of domination over the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. All American intelligence agencies, State Department and military have contingency plans to use in Venezuela and they have been a disaster.
The biggest mistake was the coup attempt against Hugo Chavez. Chavez's strength was always underestimated particularly with the poor in Venezuela. After kidnapping Chavez, in 48 hours he was back in power after a huge display of defiance against the coup. The coup was financed through the The National Endowment for Democracy, another front for CIA policies, who distributed over 1.5 million dollars to anti-Chavez labor and political groups. These groups had convinced themselves and their US masters that Chavez had no support. The consequence of this coup was the paranoia that Chavez had about the military and Chavez started aligning himself with private security contractors who were in essence remnants of FARC and drug paramilitary groups from Columbia. That was the beginnings of narco influence in Venezuela. Chavez either chose to ignore the drug trafficking or allowed it to bring in additional currency to counter the effects of various sanctions conducted by the United States and countries influenced by the United States.
The Trump administration escalated the attempts against Venezuela to the most aggressive level. The Trump administration was actively involved with planning and discussions with Silver Corp, probably a Blackwater offshoot. to overthrow Maduro and replace him with a no name, non-entity politically in Venezuela,, Juan Guaido. The plan was so bad even the CIA could not endorse it but they also did not stop it. This coup was the Bay of Pigs for Venezuela a disaster from the opening step. The private military contractor group from Russia, the Wagner group had been in Venezuela since 2018 and may have been involved in protecting Maduro from elements of his own military. This lack of success prompted the Trump Administration in evoking even more draconian sanctions against Venezuela which has been estimated to cause 100,000 deaths from the economic destruction brought by these sanctions.
The current coup has been financed the same way as the Chavez coup. with payments, grants made to the same pro US groups. Within three days after the election, the United States said the election was a fraud and Maduro should not be in power. Now it seems the rural support is gaining control for Maduro. By the way there has been absolutely no evidence ever of any voter fraud and no evidence has even been presented to any regional or international court. No pretension whatsoever of US motives. Regime change or else.
The CIA can be active in any country's affairs without being obvious. In many situations they are the puppeteer but in South America they are still active with two attempted coups just in Bolivia in less then 6 years which ended up in failure. Granted the CIA is still very busy in the Ukraine brokering numerous military hardware deals that they get a piece of. So you can understand a little lack of activity in the Americas.
The types of intimidation by the United States has achieved nothing except increasing the dictatorial instincts of the leaders of Venezuela. Sanctions force a country into looking for alternative cash and outlets to sell their products. Venezuela has now been able to cash in on their oil by finding countries like Iran and Russia to purchase their oil. Also drug trafficking is made even more lucrative to destroy the economic consequences of sanctions. Sanctions leave no room for any international compromise and creates no possibility of any change in Venezuela. United States again does no want compromise. Submission is the policy of today.
Thanks there Tom - I was interested in what your thoughts would be on Venezuela and you lay out a comprehensive response. You make some good points about a higher level of U.S. intervention, which I should have got deeper into in the piece - and I will follow up that lead on the financing of the 2002 coup. But I think as well as this, the Venezuelan government clearly massively mismanaged the economy in the 2010s and has been authoritarian. The malnutrition and lack of food stems from price fixing and expropiated farms that failed to produce - the initial sanctions were more on targeted individuals as it lays out here - https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-04-19/how-us-sanctions-have-affected-venezuela.html - I agree though sanctions that have increased don't work and hurt the poor. I think two things can be true here - The U.S. can undermine countries and they can also be authoritarian. As you spell out, these can be connected. Best.
The economic statistics of Venezuela before the election of Chavez is interesting. From 1983-1998 real income fell by 14% in a country already corrupt and a huge divide in equality of income. According to the Inter-American Development Bank, 68% of Venezuelan's were below the poverty line in 1998. Unemployment that year was 11.2 percent and inflation was 35.8%. Because Chavez was able to improve many areas of the economy, the necessity of a coup became an urgent desire. Corruption in Venezuela was by the very same supporters of the coup. When you look at the so-called mismanagement of the economy that is exactly what the opposition of Chavez wanted to create. The opposition was facing an agrarian revolt and revolution by the poor. The poor farmers and rural workers were opposed to a modern, mercantilist economy that had failed and passed them by. The initial sanctions that were instituted by the US against certain government individuals was a political smokescreen for actually a massive attack on Venezuela's economy, trying to completely discredit the Chavez regime. The actions by the United States closely mirrored the actions taken against Allende in Chile. Both were revolutions against a corrupted elite who were not willing to compromise with any reduction of their power or economic status. That is still the standoff in Venezuela now and it is only Maduro's support among the rural poor that still keeps him in power.
These types of revolutions do not engender any democratic government or society. To demand an equal society against the extreme nature of inequality and economic control and corruption is damn near impossible by democratic means. And of course, the United States obsession with supporting political and economic dictators destroys any fantasy of a democratic process.
Sr, i live and born in Venezuela. I see how you put the finger in usa goverment exactly.like the regime does.
No body canake you rape,torture and kill, no body but your self. This is venezuelan goverment today, and 15 years agos and 20 years ago.
Only grew his power step bt step.
Dont make anybody less poor, make all poors and some richest than any fantasy can make.
Some in the middle are "enchufados", peoples with bussines innthe goverment.
Don't belive in excuses chaves have a buget make at 60$ per barrel and "disapear" the rest of the money with a berrel of oil at 120$ .
The corruption is impresive, even the food in Bad shape is send to the population for make mor bussines.
Give weapons at groups of gansters for kill studens, make thousands die for not have medicins in hospitals.
And this is my very single day, with my mother .
And was a middle clasd, now gardener or electrician with and income to short for anything more than some food.
Nobody support the regime , i see the last elections, i see in very first person.
The another candidate have 30% over the actual "president". And i live very fart from a city, this is land of farmers, no more.
And yes this is socialismust, the same from cuba,nicaragua, libia and so on...
Never abandon the power without blood, the colectivismus is not democratical by definition, when some body tell you, i am the people, i am the comandant, i am the hart of a nation...run or kill, this day no more freedom you can see.
I hope, this dont sent me to jail, here, but i can't read more excuses for a dictatorship.
I hope the best for you sr.
A caraqueño, nacido en el valle de balas.
Thanks for these words and good luck with all brother. My heart goes out to you getting through this hardship. Un abrazo.
Un abrazo hermano, thanks for write about us, not are very trending topic, rigth now.
Is like live in some place forgoten, like many africans countrys ,butlike them the human side is real.
And thanks to you ,and others our history was now for some people.
The best in your future i hope!
Hoping things will get better.