Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has announced his intention to arm four million loyal socialist “militiamen” in an effort to expand his monopoly on the use of force in the poverty-stricken nation.

Felicito al Comandante de la Milicia y a los Comandantes Generales de Componentes de la FANB por el gran logro de sobrepasar los 3 millones de milicianos y milicianas. Son 1 mil 141 APDI, 14 mil 383 BPDI, 63 mil 890 UPDI con presencia en más de 160 mil calles a nivel nacional. pic.twitter.com/g3rJscvLO2 — Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) December 9, 2019 Translation: I congratulate the Commander of the Militia and the General Commanders of Components of the FANB for the great achievement of surpassing the 3 million militiamen and militiamen. There are 1,141 APDI, 14,383 BPDI, 63,890 UPDI with a presence in more than 160,000 streets nationwide.

Maduro addressed his ever-growing “National Bolivarian Militia” recently, telling the crowd that “the goal for the year 2020 is 4 million (militia members) nationwide.”

“We will arm the Bolivarian militia to the teeth,” Maduro said. “We are talking about the deepening of democracy because we are giving military people to the people of Venezuela like the constitution demands,” Maduro said.

The 28 million Venezuelans who are not favorable to Maduro (or not favorable enough) will not be allowed to have access to guns.

Why not?

Needless to say, life for the Venezuelan people is not good. Reports and images of starvation, whole families eating rotting food together out of trash bags, and other horrors have surfaced. We’ve even seen stories of people having no other option but to eat animals from the zoo, off the streets, and worst of all even their own pets.

Certainly, starving people want new leadership. With the right person at the helm, they could change their entire economic system and relieve themselves and their children of all their suffering. They could have normal lives again.

A Venezuelan second amendment where all 32 million citizens would have equal and easy access to firearms would enable them to defend themselves against criminals as well as government tyranny, and that would change everything.

But it’s too late for that. Maduro knows that expanding the idea of “giving military people to the people”, of giving access to firearms to all people would enable the citizens to rise up against him and remove him from power.

If only the Venezuelan people had decided long ago that it would be smart to arm themselves and hold onto their guns, just in case their government ever became corrupt and oppressive.

But instead, now, under Maduro’s new plan, four million armed loyalists are seeping out into every level of society to “keep the peace” among the dissatisfied, and an economic solution to the suffering of the Venezuelan people is being pushed even further back into the horizon as Maduro tightens his grip on power.

What a difference gun ownership makes.