That puts a whole new spin on GM needing a gov't bailout ;)

80% of the population starving, and they aren't allowed to leave. When they get hungry enough, it's going to get really ugly, and both the Maduro supporters and the organized opposition are likely to fare equally poorly.

jamie foxx and sean penn will save the starving people of Venezuela
 

jamie foxx and sean penn will save the starving people of Venezuela, oh maybe not.

Funny how the hollywood celebrities go mute when people are starving and being murdered by a socialist/communist dictator. They were sure yucking it up last year.

Never ever give up your guns, ever.






In surprising role, Jaime Foxx visits with President Maduro in crumbling Venezuela
Published October 05, 2016 FoxNews.com

Amid widespread unrest, massive shortages of food and basic supplies and a crumbling economy, on Tuesday Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro took the time to rub shoulders with two visiting Hollywood luminaries.

Jamie Foxx and actor/musician Lukas Haas paid a visit to the embattled head of state at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas. Maduro reportedly invited the pair so they could visit the government-funded film and TV studio, Fundación Villa del Cine, and other tourist attractions in the socialist nation.

Neither Foxx nor Haas spoke to the media during their visit, but Venezuelan media reported that the movie stars were in the country to “show support for the policies of the Bolivarian Government, in particular its social missions,” and “to learn about Venezuela’s Great Housing Mission,” a project which has purportedly built more than a million government-funded homes.

The actors were also invited by Maduro to attend the signing of an agreement between Venezuela and Jordan, Dubai and Italy for the construction of 13,912 homes in the central state of Aragua.

“We have given a warm welcome to two actors who are very admired by our people … Thank you for supporting this project, and its vision to add housing as a benefit for the people of the world,” Maduro said on state-owned VTV.

cont:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/10...venezuela.html

Exactly why would Venezuela need a million government funded homes? They were doing just fine, in their own homes, before Hurricane Hugo Chávez hit.

Pat

Nothing to see here (literally). This sounds like the same way all those donations to the Clinton Foundation for Haiti got channeled to the people who need 'em. 'Tis the way of these clowns, which is why we should NEV-uh throw a dime to such a regime.

A very liberal newspaper, in an editorial piece finally acknowledges this obvious socialist failure - from South America's richest country to dangerous levels of poverty.

Complete article at link below.

The Guardian view on Venezuela: a country in pain
Editorial
Tuesday 25 April 2017 14.33 EDT
Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro has failed his country. Picked by Hugo Chávez as successor just before his death in 2013, President Maduro has been an incompetent leader in hard times. He has failed to address the economic crisis triggered when the fall in the price of oil exposed the weaknesses of Chavismo, his predecessor’s ambitious experiment in poverty alleviation and social ownership. Now, in what was once South America’s richest country, more than four households in five are in poverty, twice the level of when he came to power. Babies and children die for lack of access to commonplace medicines. Murder and kidnapping for ransom are rife. Inflation is running above 800%; the economy is contracting sharply. Democracy itself is being eroded as the president defends his faltering grip on power. Weeks of protests have been met by state violence, semi-official vigilantes and, increasingly, counterattack from some opposition groupings. There is a wretched stalemate; and there is a real fear that violence could soon escalate out of control.

<snip>

https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...ountry-in-pain

MF Commies on display...we are not magically immune.

Venezuela Is Starving
By Juan Forero
WSJ
Updated May 5, 2017 12:39 p.m. ET

Once Latin America’s richest country, Venezuela can no longer feed its people, hobbled by the nationalization of farms as well as price and currency controls.

YARE, Venezuela— Jean Pierre Planchart, a year old, has the drawn face of an old man and a cry that is little more than a whimper. His ribs show through his skin. He weighs just 11 pounds.

His mother, Maria Planchart, tried to feed him what she could find combing through the trash—scraps of chicken or potato. She finally took him to a hospital in Caracas, where she prays a rice-milk concoction keeps her son alive.

“I watched him sleep and sleep, getting weaker, all the time losing weight,” said Ms. Planchart, 34 years old. “I never thought I’d see Venezuela like this.”

Her country was once Latin America’s richest, producing food for export. Venezuela now can’t grow enough to feed its own people in an economy hobbled by the nationalization of private farms, and price and currency controls.

Venezuela has the world’s highest inflation—estimated by the International Monetary Fund to reach 720% this year—making it nearly impossible for families to make ends meet. Since 2013, the economy has shrunk 27%, according to local investment bank Torino Capital; imports of food have plunged 70%.

Hordes of people, many with children in tow, rummage through garbage, an uncommon sight a year ago. People in the countryside pick farms clean at night, stealing everything from fruits hanging on trees to pumpkins on the ground, adding to the misery of farmers hurt by shortages of seed and fertilizer. Looters target food stores. Families padlock their refrigerators.

Three in four Venezuelans said they had lost weight last year, an average of 19 pounds, according to the National Poll of Living Conditions, an annual study by social scientists. People here, in a mix of rage and humor, call it the Maduro diet after President Nicolás Maduro.

For more than a month, Venezuelans have protested against the increasingly authoritarian government of Mr. Maduro; by Friday, more than 35 people had been reported killed in the unrest. The country’s Food Ministry, the president’s office, the Communications Ministry and the Foreign Ministry didn’t return calls or emails requesting comment for this article.

<snip>

Complete article at link.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/venezue...ing-1493995317

"they just need to try HARDER; enforce MORE sanctions; nationalize MORE industries. They just aren't trying hard enough!!"

such are the cries of the Taliban-left. " It would work if they would only make the penalties harsher!! "

Liberalism is truly a mental disease. As TS stated: Don't ever give up your guns....EVER.

Pish-tosh says their UN ambassador (who looked pretty well-fed & groomed last August).Maybe someone should ask these sycophants "wha' hoppened?"

Well said, you nailed the bernie supporter's dogma right there!

The only bright side out of this is:

Cardiovascular disease in Venezuela will pretty much disappear.

Same thing happened in Cuba in slower motion in the 90's when Soviet subsidies evaporated and Cubans, on average, lost a huge amount of weight.

But their leadership seem too stupid to leverage the only "win" out of this disaster.

They're not too embarrassed to blame the capitalists and their CIA lackeys for everything.....I would think they wouldn't be too embarrassed to claim credit for the only benefit coming from their totally avoidable famine.

Does anyone know how this will impact on Venezuela's greatest export market, Miss Universe contestants?

SHTF Latin style...

Excerpts below - complete article at link.

In secret recording, Venezuelan general pushes for snipers to control demonstrators

BY ANTONIO MARIA DELGADO AND SONIA OSORIO
adelgado@elnuevoherald.com
MAY 18, 2017 3:46 PM


In the end, “it will only be us [the military] that pulls through because … once people start to see dead bodies, and dead bodies begin to appear, then everyone will begin to stay at home,” Torrealba said. “You will remember my words, the armed forces are the ones that have to solve this problem.”

One of the generals in the room claimed the demonstrations are no longer peaceful.

“Sadly, this is the beginning of a war, gentlemen,” he said. “They [the protesters] will continue until reaching the point where an [international] intervention is justified. Let’s not fool ourselves. Sadly, it fell to our generation to live with this conflict, and we have to assume it to the degree that is being demanded by our country.”

****

Retired National Guard Colonel Antonio Semprun, who lives in South Florida, said the violence that is taking place in Venezuela against the demonstrators surpasses all that has previously been experienced in the country in what seems to be the government’s last-ditch attempt to keep Maduro in power.

“The Venezuelan population has reached a point of no return. It is committed to reaching what is being demanded on the streets, the freedom of the nation,” he said. “And what they are doing against the people — who are unarmed, protesting in the streets — are crimes against humanity.”


Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nati...#storylink=cpy
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nati...151329772.html

Venezuelan War? Wow, never saw that coming...........................................
 

Progressive/liberal/socialist morons.

Speaking of morons where's all the hollywood idiots that are in love with the Venezuelan dictator?

What a helluva red carpet question; can't wait to hear their answers on the E! News. Except the mic-holding preeners don't have the stones & are probably in the group that doesn't know where Venezuela is. Someone who's into that social-media stuff like Fakebook should carpet their pages with that question.

Socialism...inevitable failure...equally inevitable denial...have a good look Bernie supporters.

Chavista celebrities refuse to say they were wrong about socialism
By John Dietrich
American Thinker
June 14, 2017

The New York Times published an article on Venezuela titled “Dying Infants and No Medicine: Inside Venezuela’s Failing Hospitals.” It reads like an apocalyptic horror story and begins, “By morning, three newborns were already dead.” The author provides an explanation for this tragedy: “This nation has the largest oil reserves in the world, yet the government saved little money for hard times when oil prices were high. Now that prices have collapsed — they are around a third what they were in 2014 — the consequences are casting a destructive shadow across the country.” No other explanation is offered. Perhaps we will be receiving report of massive starvation in Saudi Arabia soon.

The article is a far cry from the glowing reports that greeted the assumption of power by Hugo Chavez. When Chavez was elected Venezuela’s people were the wealthiest in Latin America. Celebrities flocked to Caracas to pay homage to the new socialist leader. Sean Penn, Michael Moore, Danny Glover, and Harry Belafonte are just a few of the entertainers who have visited. Oliver Stone has made a film, Mi Amigo Hugo, about the Venezuelan leader. Now Venezuela appears to be suffering a food shortage. A survey by three universities found 75 percent of Venezuelans lost an average 19 pounds this year.

Have the Venezuelan revolution’s early supporters admitted they were wrong? Are they at all embarrassed? According to John Stossel they believe they were right to praise Venezuela’s move to socialism. Stossel corresponded with college professor Noam Chomsky. Chomsky’s reply to Stossel’s question about his support for Chavez was, “I was right." Chomsky blamed Venezuela’s problems on capitalists: “Capitalists were free to undermine the economy in all sorts of ways, like massive export of capital." Stossel quotes Marian Tupy, editor of HumanProgress.org. who said, “More countries will refuse to learn from history and give socialism 'a go.' 'Useful idiots,' to use Lenin's words ... will sing socialism's praises until the last light goes out."

Socialism has failed repeatedly. How can apparently well-educated intelligent people maintain their faith in a failed system? The answer is that in spite of their claims of being based on science, socialism is a religion. It is the official religion taught in many public schools in the U.S. It is a form of Christianity without Christ. Millions of adherents will swear a vow of poverty to further their programs. The socialist elite, however, is another matter. This brings us to Maria Gabriela Chavez, Hugo’s daughter. According to Diario las Americas she has $4.2 billion in American and Andorran banks. The socialist elite does very well for itself. They apparently see no contradiction in living well as others starve. Communist defector Victor Kravchenko described this phenomenon when he was a member of the Soviet elite: “I found myself among men who could eat ample and dainty food in full view of starving people not only with a clear conscience but with a feeling of righteousness, as if they were performing a duty to history.”

Reuters published an article describing the role played by social media in the opposition to the government. Activists are posting details of the lifestyles of government officials and their families. They expose them as thriving from corruption while the “common man” is starving. One estimate suggests that $350 billion dollars have been misappropriated by Venezuelan officials. The Atlantic reported on a blog, “Relojes del Chavismo” that lists the brands and prices of watches worn by the Venezuelan elite. Vladimir Lopes, the Minister of Defense sports a $11,900 Rolex while the President of a state TV channel wears a $12,600 watch. Still these officials may be considered frugal compared to our own champions of the downtrodden. Former member of the House of Representatives, Jesse Jackson Jr., reportedly had a $43,000 Rolex.

The success of socialism seems to depend upon having the “right people” running the government. Are our advocates of wealth redistribution setting a good example for their followers? Do Bernie Sanders, Mark Zuckerberg, and the hundreds of entertainers and academic who advocate for socialism, wear hair shirts? Or do they live lives of incredible opulence maintaining several residences that remain vacant in their absence?

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/...socialism.html

Good link, thanks.

A socialist is simply a communist that hasn't pulled their gun. Yet.

Great article Tonyz!

I saw the name John Stossel in the article you linked. I remember him from his 20/20 days.

He is one of the very, very few journalists who I hold in high regard.

Here's the link thru article John Stossel wrote from your linked article:

https://townhall.com/columnists/john...esson-n2333521

Chomsky is a danger to freedom simply due to the large audience he has jedi mind tricked into thinking socialism could possibly work.

Socialism and Venezuela...the bodies and the denial just keep piling up.

nancy pelosi & maxine waters blame the gov failure, government murder and protesting in Venezuela on climate change.

Good enough for me. :munchin

nancy pelosi & maxine waters blame the gov failure, government murder and protesting in Venezuela on climate change." TS

Yup- A failed socialist economic ideology and an ignorant, self serving leadership have nothing to do with it...

Helicopter launches attack on Supreme Court
 

Hope he's got a safe haven; not like hiding a Mini-Cooper in the LA river basin.
:munchin

"criminal government"

Lotsa that goin' around...

Restless natives?
 

Someone has upped the ante.

National Guard patrol hits roadside bomb in Venezuelan capital
RT's story, which contains several video aspects.

Commie/socialist/globalist/big government on full display for those who want to see...

Police believe thieves steal Venezuela zoo animals to eat them

#WORLD NEWSAUGUST 16, 2017 / 6:54 PM / 21 HOURS AGO
Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ve...-idUSKCN1AW2NN

LOL. That's the problem.

Gotta love it.

Socialism...more folks to - um - get on thier knees...sad
 

In Venezuela, they were teachers and doctors. To buy food, they became prostitutes.

BY JIM WYSS
Miami Herald
SEPTEMBER 22, 2017 12:08 PM

Excerpt:

Dayana, a 30-year-old mother of four, nursed a beer as she watched potential clients walk down the dirt road that runs in front of wooden shacks, bars and bordellos. Dressed for work in brightly colored spandex, Dayana said she used to be the manager of a food-processing plant on the outskirts of Caracas.

But that job disappeared after the government seized the factory and “looted it,” she said.

<snip>

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nati...#storylink=cpy

I am just happy that we have finally expanded the muslim ban on immigration to include all of the socialist muslims coming from Venezuela ...


...gosh danged Venezuelan muslims - quit ruinin' my life !!!

Wonder why they have not called it a day and go north.
As long as they don't bring the wonderful socialism with them, aren't these the high skilled immigrants SOTB we want?

Miami has a significant population from Venezuela.

Nowadays, seems some are trading Lewinskys for bread - so air travel probably a stretch.

Caracas shops mobbed as Venezuela's Maduro forces price cuts
 

Caracas shops mobbed as Venezuela's Maduro forces price cuts

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-v...-idUSKBN1EV0K1

"CARACAS (Reuters) - Mobs gathered outside some Caracas supermarkets on Saturday after the government ordered shops to slash prices, creating chaos as desperate Venezuelans leapt at the chance to buy cheaper food as the country’s worsening economy causes severe shortages. ..."

But

"...Armed National Guard soldiers later arrived at the store and ordered people into clear lines, warning that they would not be allowed in otherwise. They eventually let the crowd through in small groups just before midday, but people quickly emerged disappointed as only crackers and washing liquid were discounted.

“I can’t feed my kids with this,” said Jesus Gudino, a 29-year-old moto-taxi driver and father of three, sneering at the small plastic bag in his hand. “I’ve been here since 4 a.m. This is a mockery. What can I do? I have to leave this country.”

Get a gun and go to work for the revolution. Viva!

TR

Unrest over food shortages spreads through the country
 

Unrest over food shortages spreads through the country

https://news.trust.org/item/20180112035017-q9adf

".....Looters plundered a truck carrying corn, a food collection center, and a state-run supermarket, according to Paparoni, and a vet who witnessed the mayhem.

A video on social media also showed around a dozen men running into a lush pasture, chasing a cow, and then apparently beating it to death....."

Starting to get nastier down there.

Watch here: http://www.wmal.com/2018/01/12/video...sm-is-awesome/

Pat

Didn't some guy just describe countries like this as "shitholes" ????

EXACTLY !!!!
 

ALL THE ASSHAT DEMOCRATS SHOULD GO THERE ON VACATION & TAKE THEIR FAMILIES....AND AS FAR AS THE STATUE OF LIBERTY !!! SEND IT BACK TO FRANCE WITH THE DACA.... THEY CAN DREAM IN PARIS.

Chaotic, impoverished, dysfunctional, crime-ridden, unsanitary, grid failures, lack of medical care...

...sure sounds like a SHITHOLE.