Venezuelans are crying out for freedom and respite from the hellhole—where girls as young as twelve are forced to prostitute themselves in order to avoid starvation— that Maduro, following in the footsteps of his predecessor, has built, but those cries will no longer have any voice: Maduro’s extra-constitutional “National Constituent Assembly” has usurped power from the elected Venezuelan congress—the last and only governmental body held by the opposition. Maduro’s dictatorship has formalized absolute power over the country, and over the people, including the silencing of any dissent.

Like any other dictator worth his authoritarian salt, he has either imprisoned the opposition who will face treason trials in kangaroo courts, or he has send assassins to murder those who have escaped.

While the Venezuelan people are suffering and starving, Maduro now seeks to sell his country out to Russia for a pittance and enough support to remain in power. For a regime that prided itself on pushing out foreign control and bringing ownership back to “the people”, the de facto overlordship by Russia would be the highest of ironies if it weren’t so predictable.

Everything Maduro and Chavez claimed to be fighting against is exactly what they’ve achieved by their own tyranny. As is oft said, a government powerful enough to give you everything you want is powerful enough to take everything you have, and Venezuela has become the perfect example of that.



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