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lemonslol posted:What are the non-corrupt wealthy people doing? My understanding is that: even with access to money, there is still no access to food or medicine. As Labradoodle and El Hefe pointed out earlier, there are stores that sell imported goods at exuberant prices. The price that Labradoodle quoted for a 5kg bag of rice two months ago - Bs. 70,000 - is more than the worker earning the minimum monthly salary earns in a month (not including the cestaticket). Imagine blowing your entire paycheck for two and a half months on a bag of rice. If you're wealthy enough, these types of prices might not seem like such a huge hit on your wallet, but it's impossible not to imagine that everyone except a handful of the wealthiest people in the country are in massive trouble over food prices. The fact is that the overwhelming majority of Venezuelans are either poor or middle class (although I'd argue that term has lost its meaning in Venezuela), and are completely shut out of these types of markets. This is why people are forced to line up for six, eight hours in the hopes of getting a chance to buy subsidized food, or simply not eating regularly. The medical situation is much worse because as far as I know there are no pharmacies stocked with "imported medicine" that cater to the wealthy. Whether you're rich or poor, the pharmacies are out of even the most basic medicines, ranging from insulin to chemotherapy drugs. I dont know posted:Of all the problems that rebuilding will entail, brain drain may be the worst. Building up a trained and educated professional class takes an extraordinary long time. Since they have skills that are in globally in demand and the resources to move, they are often the first to leave. Additionally, once they start building a life in a new country they rarely want to go start over a third time. I say this every few pages, but every single member of my family in Venezuela in my generation has left the country (with the exception of one who is leaving for good in January). I have six cousins, plus my brother, which makes eight of us. We're all hard working, dedicated people with principles and a strong worth ethic . I will likely never return to Venezuela even if things do get better for the reason that you've pointed out: I've already been an immigrant once, and I've got my life here now. Most of my cousins will tell you the same thing. And we're just one out of tens of thousands of families who can tell you the exact same story. That's why the country's recovery is a multi-generational project. The millennials who were born in Venezuela have been lost, and the current generation is at risk of being lost as well.
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# ? Nov 30, 2016 17:31 |
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# ? May 15, 2024 21:11 |
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Baloogan posted:How do salaries work in runaway inflation? How are police and military getting paid? It looks like it should be at the Zimbabwe Point where anyone with guns starts to demand payment in foreign currency, but it looks like that hasn't happened yet?
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# ? Nov 30, 2016 17:34 |
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Chuck Boone posted:This is part of the sadness that all of us who've left carry with us. I think looking at India is instructive. A large portion of the educated, skilled, and professional and moving to India are the children and grandchildren of people who moved from India several decades ago. This is a cold comfort, given that using this group to rebuild is at least 30 years in the future.
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# ? Nov 30, 2016 17:40 |
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I would move back to Venezuela. I left in 2003, so I wonder if it's because I left when I felt things had started to get bad, and I haven't lived the current Venezuela first hand, only visted, and with dollars. I was in Caracas two years ago around this time, and it felt different, but some things still felt like home. Me hace falta mi país.
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# ? Nov 30, 2016 17:56 |
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Saladman posted:How are police and military getting paid? It looks like it should be at the Zimbabwe Point where anyone with guns starts to demand payment in foreign currency, but it looks like that hasn't happened yet? Most recently, ten soldiers were arrested for the murders of at least twelve people in Barlovento, Miranda state in the aftermath of a security operation last month. The operation took place in mid-October, but the bodies were not discovered until last week. People's Defender Tarek William Saab confirmed that the victims did not know each other and were not known to police, so heavens knows what type of extortion/kidnapping scheme they became victims to. I dont know posted:I think looking at India is instructive. A large portion of the educated, skilled, and professional and moving to India are the children and grandchildren of people who moved from India several decades ago. This is a cold comfort, given that using this group to rebuild is at least 30 years in the future. I don't consider myself to be a nationalistic person at all. I'm pretty cynical when it comes to the idea in general. Still, I really like arepas, and I like getting people to try them. I like to play salsa music when I have friends over, and I like to eat hallacas during Christmas. Insofar as I like all of those things that lots of Venezuelan people like, I really identify with Venezuelan culture. If I ever have children, I'd like to pass on my love for those and other Venezuelan things with the hopes that they will enjoy them as I have. I'm sure I speak for lots of people in my situation when I say that. And, as you said, maybe that could be the seed that grows into a generation of Venezuelans-at-heart who might want to lend a hand one day when the country needs it. lemonslol posted:I would move back to Venezuela. I left in 2003, so I wonder if it's because I left when I felt things had started to get bad, and I haven't lived the current Venezuela first hand, only visted, and with dollars. I was in Caracas two years ago around this time, and it felt different, but some things still felt like home. Me hace falta mi país.
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# ? Nov 30, 2016 18:06 |
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Chuck Boone posted:
EE.UU I guess it's the tradition and customs, that I really miss--especially around Christmas time. I'm very nationalistic, I wear Leones uniforms to work on the casual day; I have a a huge collection of Venezuelan artisan work, my dress shoes, belts, wallets are all made in Venezuela, I have a giant framed picture of Simon Diaz, beside my painting of Simon Bolivar, and I'm commissioning a painting of Harina Pan. I have a small collection of paintings from Venezuelan painters, and the list goes on. Needless to say, when I left my plan was to make American dollars and come back home and start a family. I eat arepas at least five times a week. gay for gacha fucked around with this message at 18:43 on Nov 30, 2016 |
# ? Nov 30, 2016 18:33 |
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lemonslol posted:EE.UU gaitas are awful
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# ? Nov 30, 2016 18:40 |
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manchego posted:gaitas are awful You are a sick man.
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# ? Nov 30, 2016 18:44 |
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Musica llanera is where is at At least it seems people have finally come to their senses and stopped listening to poo poo like vallenatos and cumbia
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# ? Nov 30, 2016 20:18 |
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lemonslol posted:I have a giant framed picture of Simon Diaz, beside my painting of Simon Bolivar, and I'm commissioning a painting of Harina Pan. God drat, son. I'm not sure if you're serious or not about that Harina Pan painting, but if you are, I definitely want to see it when it's done.
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# ? Nov 30, 2016 22:56 |
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El Hefe posted:Musica llanera is where is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZHFrHwyoS4 Labradoodle posted:God drat, son. I'm not sure if you're serious or not about that Harina Pan painting, but if you are, I definitely want to see it when it's done. Very serious. I have had the idea for a few years, I saw a maseca painting in someones house and it made me want it. I have a pretty big coin collection too. I really love Venezuela
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# ? Nov 30, 2016 23:25 |
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drat dude, you're more Venezuelan than pan de jamon. I'll be honest, it's my country and I love it, but I've always felt out of place in regular Venezuelan society. I went to all the hole-in-the wall concert venues, hung with the punk kids in Plaza Carabobo, and hated reaggeton, gaitas and salsa. But I'd get an Harina Pan painting in a heartbeat. Also, I was trying to remember the name of the photographer that took the very famous panorama of the whole Caracas, do any of you remember it?
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# ? Dec 1, 2016 08:25 |
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Chuck Boone posted:As Labradoodle and El Hefe pointed out earlier, there are stores that sell imported goods at exuberant prices. Although I guess maybe the shop owners are exuberant about the prices.
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# ? Dec 1, 2016 11:33 |
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OPEC agreed to production cuts, oil price jumped 8% yesterday (to $50). Too bad Venezuela needs it at well over $100 to fund the country, which will never happen now that Canadian and American shale fracking is viable at progressively cheaper and more massive quantities. Too bad that the massive influx in money that this news will bring to Venezuela will almost completely be stolen by the top PSUV officials, and not used to alleviate hunger or perform necessary infrastructure repairs. I'm sure the few PSUV officials who give even a single poo poo about Venezuela are praying oil will double in price, but since that won't happen until the dollar inflates to 100% of its current-date value. Saladman fucked around with this message at 12:01 on Dec 1, 2016 |
# ? Dec 1, 2016 11:59 |
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The MUD has decided to "stand up" from the round table sessions with the government. Effectively making the so called "dialogue" a complete and absolute waste of time that only made things worse, particularly considering that the Amazonas deputies stepped down, that countless protests were cancelled, that the MUD gave up on any and all possible options to remove Maduro, all as a precondition for this negotiation. The MUD put all of their eggs in one basket and then proceeded to stomp on them. At this point, there are no longer any democratic alternatives to removing Maduro other than waiting for presidential elections in 2019, and the worst part is, I think these idiots are actually planning on waiting until that happens. Now, considering how absolutely disastrous November was for the Venezuelan economy with no signs of any attempts at rectification being made by the government, and also considering the MUD's now simply obnoxious tendency to self destruct, the stage is set for radicals and revolutionaries to try and seize control next year. Politicians both domestic and foreign have failed the Venezuelan people at every turn, every single individual who had the ability to stop this madness has turned a blind eye. There's gonna be millions of Venezuelan citizens who are gonna be left with no cash, no food, no medicine, no hope, who feel betrayed by both MUD and PSUV, and they're going to support whatever third option comes their way.
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# ? Dec 1, 2016 15:28 |
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fnox posted:The MUD has decided to "stand up" from the round table sessions with the government. Effectively making the so called "dialogue" a complete and absolute waste of time that only made things worse, particularly considering that the Amazonas deputies stepped down, that countless protests were cancelled, that the MUD gave up on any and all possible options to remove Maduro, all as a precondition for this negotiation. Here's the translation of the press release: quote:PRESS RELEASE If I were a betting man, I'd say that the PSUV is going to release one political prisoner on December 5 at 11:55 PM. The MUD will claim that as a victory and a sign that the dialogue is working, and go to the talks. Cicero posted:*exorbitant Thank you for the correction. And yes, yes they were
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# ? Dec 1, 2016 16:20 |
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Chuck Boone posted:If I were a betting man, I'd say that the PSUV is going to release one political prisoner on December 5 at 11:55 PM. The MUD will claim that as a victory and a sign that the dialogue is working, and go to the talks. I'd take your bet. Has the government even let the MUD get a single theoretical partial "victory" at any point in the past year? I've been following since the last AN election and it doesn't seem like the PSUV has budged a single inch or thrown even the smallest of bones to the opposition.
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# ? Dec 1, 2016 17:25 |
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Chuck Boone posted:If I were a betting man, I'd say that the PSUV is going to release one political prisoner on December 5 at 11:55 PM. The MUD will claim that as a victory and a sign that the dialogue is working, and go to the talks. And they'll arrest two the next day. As Ricardo Hausmann said, political prisoners are a renewable resource in a dictatorship.
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# ? Dec 1, 2016 18:43 |
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Everything has doubled in price the last two weeks, this is loving insane.
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# ? Dec 1, 2016 18:50 |
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Venezuela is now officially suspended from Mercosur, this may be the first true act of condemnation to the Venezuelan government.
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# ? Dec 2, 2016 01:15 |
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Today in chronicles from Caracas, I went to have lunch in a place near my apartment that serves homemade meals and found out that points of sale around the entire city are failing. As in, nobody can buy poo poo today unless they have cash on hand. As a result, ATM lines are particularly hellish today. The kicker is, the owner told me not to worry, that I could pay him via bank transfer for my simple lunch.
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# ? Dec 2, 2016 19:23 |
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Labradoodle posted:Today in chronicles from Caracas, I went to have lunch in a place near my apartment that serves homemade meals and found out that points of sale around the entire city are failing. As in, nobody can buy poo poo today unless they have cash on hand. As a result, ATM lines are particularly hellish today. It's affecting these banks: Bancaribe, B.O.D, Banco Activo, Banco Agrícola de Venezuela, Banco Exterior, Banco Caroní, Banco de Venezuela, Banco del Tesoro, Banco Plaza, Banco Fondo Común, Novo, Bancrecer, Banco Bicentenario, MiBanco, Banplus, Del Sur, Banco del Pueblo Soberano, Bancamiga, 100 % Banco y Citi. Apparently it's a problem with the company that handles the transactions called Credicard. Thankfully my bank isn't affected and I was able to buy dinner just fine!
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# ? Dec 3, 2016 05:19 |
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Point-of-sale terminals in Venezuela are operated by a company called Creditcard. Maduro gave a speech last night mid-outage in which he called the failure of the terminals "a financial coup d'etat" and said - as usual, without providing a shred of evidence - that "they" had planned the whole thing. Maduro said: quote:This [outage] had been announced. I had information that they were trying to do this. They were trying to leave the country without Creditcard. Later in the evening, the SEBIN (the political police) showed up at the Creditcard officers in Caracas under direct orders from Maduro. Since I don't think anyone was arrested, I think that the move was just the typical bully/scare tactic we've come to expect from Maduro. Here's a quick video of a SEBIN car outside of the company's offices last night: https://twitter.com/hispanopost/status/804830868355293184 Also, the Venezuelan government's official response (via Foreign Affairs Minister Delcy Rodriguez) to its suspension from Mercosur two days ago is "nah-nah-nah-I-can't-hear-you-nah-nah-nah": quote:Venezuela does not recognize this hostile act that is based on the law of the jungle by some officials who are destroying MERCOSUR. The next Mercosur meeting is going to be awkward. Venezuela is the pathetic ex-boyfriend who shows up to Christmas dinner at his former girlfriend's house with flowers thinking that somehow he'll make it through the door.
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# ? Dec 3, 2016 17:45 |
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I'm an American who used to frequently post here, but stopped a year ago when the opposition won the legislative branch. So what changes (if any) occurred?
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# ? Dec 3, 2016 19:58 |
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punk rebel ecks posted:I'm an American who used to frequently post here, but stopped a year ago when the opposition won the legislative branch. Venezuela is a dictatorship now.
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# ? Dec 3, 2016 20:00 |
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That, the National Assembly has been totally emasculated by the Chavista-controlled Supreme Court, the MUD has finally proven itself to be useless and the currency has entered hyperinflation territory. Basically, everything's hosed, only more so.
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# ? Dec 3, 2016 20:37 |
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They finally opened a KFC here in Maracaibo and I went to try it today and they only had arepas fritas and yuca fritas as sides, gently caress you Maduro. Also a lady behind me was explaining to her daughter how this was all the fault of the economic war, there's no god.
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# ? Dec 3, 2016 20:41 |
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El Hefe posted:Also a lady behind me was explaining to her daughter how this was all the fault of the economic war, there's no god. "So you see, the Yankee dogs in Washington - working in conjunction with their henchmen in Miami, Madrid and Cúcuta who are organised through the website run by that hardware store worker in Alabama I told you about - don't want us to buy French fries at this KFC to demoralise us and overthrow our president. And that, honey, is the economic war."
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# ? Dec 3, 2016 20:57 |
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punk rebel ecks posted:I'm an American who used to frequently post here, but stopped a year ago when the opposition won the legislative branch. It is so hosed up that even Borneo Jimmy stopped posting, probably because even he realized that some things are indefensible.
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# ? Dec 3, 2016 21:20 |
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Gervasius posted:It is so hosed up that even Borneo Jimmy stopped posting, probably because even he realized that some things are indefensible. Probably the cheques stopped coming.
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# ? Dec 3, 2016 21:21 |
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El Hefe posted:Venezuela is a dictatorship now. So it finally crossed that line? What exactly has changed authoritarian wise?
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# ? Dec 4, 2016 01:02 |
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punk rebel ecks posted:So it finally crossed that line? What exactly has changed authoritarian wise?
Chuck Boone fucked around with this message at 01:29 on Dec 4, 2016 |
# ? Dec 4, 2016 01:20 |
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The weirdest thing is that even though the economy is in such dire straits people keep opening businesses and they are even opening new shopping malls, they opened one in Caracas which is apparently the biggest one in the city and here in Mcbo they also opened a small luxury mall a few months ago, these people are gambling really hard with their money.
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# ? Dec 4, 2016 04:21 |
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El Hefe posted:The weirdest thing is that even though the economy is in such dire straits people keep opening businesses and they are even opening new shopping malls, they opened one in Caracas which is apparently the biggest one in the city and here in Mcbo they also opened a small luxury mall a few months ago, these people are gambling really hard with their money. Well, there's always people that sow during times of crises. I think the main two players buying real estate now must be enchufados scared of making big investments outside the country since there must be a lot of eyes on dirty Venezuelan money at this point. They can basically print endless money at this point and they have to invest it in something if they can't get it out. It's ironic knowing that Chavista enchufados are now the new masters of the valley, much like the 'oligarchs' they always criticize. Optimistically, there will be endless inquiries into massive corruption when chavismo passes, but let's be honest, some people will get away with On the other hand, I remember reading a very good article months ago about how international businesses are investing their bolivares in local infrastructure due to the impossibility of repatriating that money. If they manage to ride out chavismo, they will be in a good position to reap the rewards of a sane economy where a lot of competitors will have been wiped off the map. The investment might not pay off in the short term, but the country's gotta pick its poo poo back up at some point. Big companies and rich people can afford to withstand the crisis, it's us regular folk that get steamrolled. Labradoodle fucked around with this message at 05:04 on Dec 4, 2016 |
# ? Dec 4, 2016 04:55 |
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Chuck Boone posted:There will be books written on this, so it's very difficult to summarize it all. Here are a couple of very superficial highlights: Wow. What was the courts reasoning? Is there any hope left? punk rebel ecks fucked around with this message at 06:17 on Dec 4, 2016 |
# ? Dec 4, 2016 05:55 |
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punk rebel ecks posted:Wow. What was the courts reasoning? Is there any hope left? Before the new assembly was sworn in, the chavista-led assembly forced a bunch of Supreme Court justices to resign and packed the court with their cronies illegally. They don't need any reasoning, they're entirely in the government's pocket. Now, they still back all their rulings with a bunch of legalese, but it's a stretch any way you paint it. I mean, as Chuck said, at one point they just got bored of the whole dynamic of striking down every single ruling the new assembly passed, so they just declared them in contempt and ruled everything they did or would do illegal due to 'reasons'. Chavismo governs by force now and the MUD has dropped the ball at every step of the way to fight the new status quo. At this point, I think the MUD is pretty much resigned to chavismo until the next presidential elections in 2016. They haven't said so, but they aided the government in killing any hope of a referendum by agreeing to sit down and negotiate with them, after squandering the only card in their hand: massive protests. Right now the only options are waiting until 2019 or hoping for something else to topple Maduro. The problem is, Maduro is just a figurehead, take him out and you still have a massive chavista apparatus with no incentive to make any changes.
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# ? Dec 4, 2016 06:36 |
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Labradoodle posted:Before the new assembly was sworn in, the chavista-led assembly forced a bunch of Supreme Court justices to resign and packed the court with their cronies illegally. They don't need any reasoning, they're entirely in the government's pocket. Now, they still back all their rulings with a bunch of legalese, but it's a stretch any way you paint it. I mean, as Chuck said, at one point they just got bored of the whole dynamic of striking down every single ruling the new assembly passed, so they just declared them in contempt and ruled everything they did or would do illegal due to 'reasons'. Chavismo governs by force now and the MUD has dropped the ball at every step of the way to fight the new status quo. I see. You seem critical, and always have, about MUD. It's as if you blame them for things getting out of control just as the PSUV? I wonder why. Also, if I said that I was a socialist? Would you hate me because of what the PSUV has done to your country? Or see that as a separate thing?
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# ? Dec 4, 2016 06:42 |
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punk rebel ecks posted:I see. You seem critical, and always have, about MUD. It's as if you blame them for things getting out of control just as the PSUV? I wonder why. I was very hopeful about the MUD, beginning with the big run-up against Chavez during his last election, and then against Maduro. Once again when they managed to take the assembly with an overwhelming majority against all odds. My main issue with them is that they've always been too meek when it comes to calling out the government and confronting it. We're long past the point where avoiding direct confrontation could prevent violence and save lives. They're obsessed with waiting for the right moment, but the government is not going to give them any openings. Just to give you an idea of the dire straits we're in, we experienced an inflation of over 50% during last month alone. Over 80% of the country lives in poverty, far more than when Chavez was elected, and we have people dying due to a lack of medicine every day. With the government actively blocking and seizing humanitarian aid when it does come. It's nuts that the MUD still thinks they need to sit down and hash things out. As for the socialist thing, definitely not. I'm very left-leaning myself, but I don't see the crisis as a consequence of a socialist government. Chavez was a caudillo that tore down the institutions of this country and surrounded himself with corrupt cronies. They aren't a government, they're criminals wearing suits that happen to operate out of Miraflores. Labradoodle fucked around with this message at 07:34 on Dec 4, 2016 |
# ? Dec 4, 2016 07:26 |
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Labradoodle posted:I was very hopeful about the MUD, beginning with the big run-up against Chavez during his last election, and then against Maduro. Once again when they managed to take the assembly with an overwhelming majority against all odds. My main issue with them is that they've always been too meek when it comes to calling out the government and confronting it. We're long past the point where avoiding direct confrontation could prevent violence and save lives. They're obsessed with waiting for the right moment, but the government is not going to give them any openings. I see thank you. I also recall, maybe I'm remembering wrong, that years ago you called out MUD for having terrible strategy in appealing voters and ground game so to speak?
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# ? Dec 4, 2016 07:43 |
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# ? May 15, 2024 21:11 |
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punk rebel ecks posted:So what changes (if any) occurred? Everyone who has ever lived in Venezuela or spoken to someone who has found it impossible to continue pretending that Venezuela is anything other than a failed state presided over by an increasingly psychotic leftist dictator. Not coincidentally, American left-wing media outlets doubled down on Venezuela as a socialist utopia.
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# ? Dec 4, 2016 18:51 |