Hugo Chavez was one of the most evil socialist dictators ever. He took the richest country in Latin America, Venezuela, and turned it into a disaster of misery and poverty in only five years. How bad? The people had no food or toilet paper. And critics of Chavez were tortured and murdered. Isn't socialism wonderful?



But it gets worse. Just like Fidel Castro, Chavez got filthy rich based on the misery of his own people. His family made billions. Then this evil dictator died of cancer. He turned the country over to his handpicked successor, Nicolas Maduro. Maduro ran the country the exact same way. Things are now worse. The people eat from garbage dumps and are forced to drink sewage water. In an oil-rich country, there is no gasoline for cars.



I am the ultimate passionate evangelist for capitalism. I preach the horrors of socialism and the greatness of capitalism 24/7 on my national TV and radio shows. I despise socialism. I believe Chavez and Maduro are pure evil. That's why it's strange to hear that, for once, I agree with something an evil socialist dictator said. Days ago, Maduro told NBC's Jorge Ramos that America has no right to criticize. He cited the poverty, misery and homelessness of American cities such as New York. He said, "New Yorkers have to eat garbage, too."



I agree. America's inner cities -- run 100% by Democrats -- are rotting cesspools of misery. They are third-world hellholes. Just look at New York, Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Francisco, to name a few. All run by Democrats for half a century or more. They aren't quite Venezuela -- yet. But they are headed there.



What Maduro missed is that those cities resemble Venezuela because their policies are socialist, just slightly milder than in Venezuela. And the leaders of those cities are socialists posing as "Democrats." In Chicago, they just elected a bunch of councilmembers who proudly call themselves socialist. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is a card-carrying socialist. And many of these inner-city Democrats are corrupt, just like Maduro. They appoint cronies and family members to government positions or award them multimillion-dollar government contracts. De Blasio's wife can't show where $850 million of federal taxpayer money went. That's Maduro-level corruption.

Thank goodness many Americans are waking up. That could be why in the latest poll of Iowa's Democrat voters, de Blasio got 0 votes -- not 0%. Nine Democrats got 0% in the poll. But de Blasio actually didn't get one vote.



This is the state of today's Democratic Party. Democrats are openly socialist, and if elected, they will turn us into corrupt, starving and bankrupt Venezuela.



Nevada is headed in the exact same direction under 100% Democratic leadership. They will ruin this state in five short years -- just like Chavez ruined Venezuela.



I just got back from New York. I'm a witness to what a cesspool of misery, poverty and homelessness New York City has become.



Wayne Allyn Root is a CEO, entrepreneur, best-selling author, nationally syndicated talk show host on USA Radio Network and the host of "The Wayne Allyn Root Show" on Newsmax TV nightly at 8 p.m. ET.