Venezuela, Poster Child for Socialism

Anyone still attracted to the illusion of socialism and its promise of social justice and wealth redistribution needs to check out what’s happening in Venezuela. Seventeen years of Bolivarian revolutionary repression and ripping off an oil-rich nation have left its people without food, electrical power or even toilet paper.

Now, the despotic regime founded by the radical leftist, Hugo Chavez, has declared a state of emergency. It justified this extreme measure by asserting the United States was organizing a coup – a preposterous claim given President Obama’s friendly attitude towards Chavez and his successor, Nicholas Maduro.

The people of Venezuela have already expressed how fed up they are with Maduro’s misrule. Last year, they gave control of parliament to a coalition of opposition parties now pursuing a legal means of removing Maduro from power. They, not the regime, deserve our support.