Will be along any moment to tell us why this is okay and in the interests of the people.

will join in these cries for an unfettered social media in Venezuela.

I mean, we're all staunch defenders of the 1st Amendment, right? I mean, it's not like a campaign of hate and misinformation can be launched over social media and actually affect political outcomes, right? It's not like social media can be used to put wealthy elitists and global capitalists in charge of sovereign nation, right?

The opposition wins the venezuelan parliament... and the Supreme Court tries to declare the parliament in contempt and itself to be the new parliament.

The opposition demands a recall-election for Maduro... which is sabotaged with procedural tricks until it's no longer allowed.

The opposition demands new elections to give the country a new government... to which Maduro reacts by trying to rewrite the constitution.

at the first punctuation mark. We all knew who the OP thinks should be running Venezuela.

The support for the Venezuelan opposition is not any more organic than the support for Trump. the crisis in Venezuela is as artificial as the depressed oil prices which caused it.

Who created this crisis?

The Saudis, because they dropped oil-prices to kill US fracking?

The foreign governments and merchants who refuse to be paid in worthless venezuelan Bolivars?

The capitalist opposition, for demanding that the economic crisis be fought with new economic policies?

Or Maduro, for refusing to enact political reforms because chavist socialism is the best system in the world even though it clearly is not?



You said, this crisis is artificial. Who created it and how?

You just failed to acknowledge that the Saudi artificial deflation of oil prices was not merely directed at the poor abused US frackers, but also at Venezuelan heavy crude out of the Orinoco. As important, you fail to acknowledge who is behind it. Hint, it's not the Saudi government except to the extent that they are in the pocket of the same oil industry still looking to double their supply of crude without the cost and political hassle of fracking.

Btw, tell me why Venezuela has been forced to trade in Bolivars. Hmm . . .

I'm sure global capitalist at Exxon-Mobil, Conoco-Phillips, and Chevron would just love to see the crisis they created with their allies in the ME fought with new CAPITALIST economic policies, as opposed to, say, ending their efforts to starve the Venezuelan people into revolution by manipulating supply.

As for the ills of "Chavist socialism," they were, until the ongoing Saudi/Big Oil coup, a fraction of what the poor people of that country suffered before Chavez.

1.
Let's suppose that Saudi-Arabia were in the pocket of some mysterious "Big Oil"-conspiracy.

Are you aware that Saudi-Arabia is bleeding its reserves of foreing currency dry? Fast?
Are you aware that Saudi-Arabia and Iran held a conference to reduce oil production but no side trusted the other to keep their side of the deal?
Are you aware that Saudi-Arabia is setting up a parallel martket-place for oil that trades in Rials and Euros, not US-Dollars?
One might suspect that Saudi-Arabia doesn't like low oil-prices...
One might suspect that Saudi-Arabia is trying to fight Big Oil...

You have merely switched the blame from Saudi-Arabia to some invisible boogeyman without offering ANY evidence why what you said would be true.


2.
And Venezuela is trading in Bolivars because that's their currency.


3.
Oh yeah. Big Oil is manipulating supply. Those assholes are forcing colombian food-exporters to not accept the worthless venezuelan money in exchange for colombian food.
Venezuela has runaway inflation and no end in sight!!!!!! Who in his right mind would accept venezuelan money????????


4.
I did not attack Chavismo. I attacked Maduro's unwillingness to consider any solutions outside of Chavismo.

Saudi/Big Oil are bleeding cash for the same reason a Wal Mart bleeds cash when it moves into a new market and undercuts local prices. They have the cash to do it. They can take a loss in order to drive the nationalized half of the market (and the high cost per barrel part of the market) to its knees.

Your patronizing BS about why Venezuela is being forced to spend worthless Bolivars isn't fooling anyone either. They can't deal in foreign currency because they only trade on the world market in one product and they can't compete against the artificially deflated price of crude. Further, because they don't have the cash reserves of countries/companies like Saudi/Big Oil, they can't take a loss.

And WHY is the Bolivar worthless? WHY is Venezuela facing runaway inflation? Could it be because they never had massive cash reserves (because it was spent helping PEOPLE) and their commodity reserves are, thanks to YOUR heroes, unsellable without destroying Venezuela's future.

Take your propaganda elsewhere.

Saudi-Arabia does not have the cash to "bleed it". Saudi-Arabia is currently going through economc and political reforms precisely because they CANNOT go on with business as usual with a big-spending saudi government.

I agree with your second paragraph.

But "Big Oil" or whomever you are refering to, are not my heroes. I simply refuse to unquestioningly take sides for Maduro simply for virtue of him being a Leftie.



But let's look the crisis from the point of view of Maduro. What has he done to combat the economic crisis?
- The government has appropriated company-property with the excuse that the venezuelan government is better at running the business.
- The government has forced traders to sell their goods for less than what they are worth.

Has Maduro launched a program to combat the upcoming famine with grass-roots projects to build many small vegetable-gardens? Such projects do exist in Venezuela, but they were launched and are being run by private citizens. NOT MADURO.