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Venezuela’s Supreme Court Consolidates President Nicolás Maduro’s Power

32 points by protomyth 10y ago

andrenth 10y ago
With the Supreme Court in the pocket of the dictatorship, there's very little hope for Venezuela. The totalitarian ascent to power was applauded by the armchair revolutionaries of the left wing intelligentsia in South America and elsewhere. There is a time when you have to stop being naive and believing this is "good intentions gone bad". What's happening in Venezuela and almost happened in Argentina and Brazil is exactly what the totalitarians want: to seize power and sustain the political elite. All, of course, in the name of the masses.
- marcoperaza 10y ago
  >The totalitarian ascent to power was applauded by the armchair revolutionaries of the left wing intelligentsia in South America and elsewhere. Don't forget former US President Jimmy Carter, who rubber stamped Chavez's rigged[1] elections and even wrote an obituary gushing with praise and admiration for the evil tyrant. [1] There's better ways to rig an election than stuffing ballot boxes. That's so primitive and risky. The modern way to rig an election is to control the media, force or entice them to say nothing but positive things about you, while burying your opponents with false or misleading claims.
jimmywanger 10y ago
The problem here is that the opposition is still trying to go through the proper channels specified by the constitution. They don't realize that the incumbent party already controls all the rules and the processes. It's like when Lucy holds the football for Charlie Brown. The opposition still doesn't realize that when the time comes, Maduro and his cronies will simply yank the ball away again. There is very little chance for a constitutional, non-violent change in power.
- scorpioxy 10y ago
  I agree. I have family still living there so watching out for when it is going to start. When people start dying because of lack of food and medication, I can't imagine a transition happening without spilled blood. Also, the army and supreme court are still supporting him so what "democratic" means can you really resort to?
  - gjolund 10y ago
    Why aren't they getting the fuck out now?
    - scorpioxy 10y ago
      The ones who were financially able to/had a place to go to already did. But not everyone has those benefits. You also have to figure out what to do in terms of money after getting out(1000% inflation will eat up your savings). Sometimes the devil you know...
    - jimmywanger 10y ago
      (Note: I've only been observing the situation from the sidelines, as an armchair economist. I have no skin in the game.) 1) The exchange rates are screwed. It's hard to get hard currency (Euros, Dollars) on the open market, as that goes through the government. Right now, I believe that 1000 bolivars roughly goes for 1 dollar on the black market, although the other commenter can correct me. There are two official exchange rates, one for 10 bolivars for one dollar. That rate you need government connections to get. (It's only for "essential goods" like flour and such) The other I think is about 600 bolivars for a dollar. So if you've saved up 100k in bolivars, all of a sudden it's only worth 1k american dollars when before it was worth like 70k. Venezuela is the only place where your currency has value, no other country would bother taking your notes. 2) What place will take you? Especially if you don't have any valued skills. To emigrate to another country requires a lot of paperwork and money. I don't think you can simply claim refugee status cause you're from Venezuela (yet). Basically, if you're a farmer or former middle class worker without foreign currency holdings or connections, you're stuck. Columbia doesn't want a huge influx of unskilled labor, neither does Brazil or the United States.

32 points by protomyth 10y ago

With the Supreme Court in the pocket of the dictatorship, there's very little hope for Venezuela. The totalitarian ascent to power was applauded by the armchair revolutionaries of the left wing intelligentsia in South America and elsewhere. There is a time when you have to stop being naive and believing this is "good intentions gone bad". What's happening in Venezuela and almost happened in Argentina and Brazil is exactly what the totalitarians want: to seize power and sustain the political elite. All, of course, in the name of the masses.

marcoperaza 10y ago
>The totalitarian ascent to power was applauded by the armchair revolutionaries of the left wing intelligentsia in South America and elsewhere. Don't forget former US President Jimmy Carter, who rubber stamped Chavez's rigged[1] elections and even wrote an obituary gushing with praise and admiration for the evil tyrant. [1] There's better ways to rig an election than stuffing ballot boxes. That's so primitive and risky. The modern way to rig an election is to control the media, force or entice them to say nothing but positive things about you, while burying your opponents with false or misleading claims.

jimmywanger 10y ago

The problem here is that the opposition is still trying to go through the proper channels specified by the constitution. They don't realize that the incumbent party already controls all the rules and the processes. It's like when Lucy holds the football for Charlie Brown. The opposition still doesn't realize that when the time comes, Maduro and his cronies will simply yank the ball away again. There is very little chance for a constitutional, non-violent change in power.

scorpioxy 10y ago
I agree. I have family still living there so watching out for when it is going to start. When people start dying because of lack of food and medication, I can't imagine a transition happening without spilled blood. Also, the army and supreme court are still supporting him so what "democratic" means can you really resort to?
- gjolund 10y ago
  Why aren't they getting the fuck out now?
  - scorpioxy 10y ago
    The ones who were financially able to/had a place to go to already did. But not everyone has those benefits. You also have to figure out what to do in terms of money after getting out(1000% inflation will eat up your savings). Sometimes the devil you know...
  - jimmywanger 10y ago
    (Note: I've only been observing the situation from the sidelines, as an armchair economist. I have no skin in the game.) 1) The exchange rates are screwed. It's hard to get hard currency (Euros, Dollars) on the open market, as that goes through the government. Right now, I believe that 1000 bolivars roughly goes for 1 dollar on the black market, although the other commenter can correct me. There are two official exchange rates, one for 10 bolivars for one dollar. That rate you need government connections to get. (It's only for "essential goods" like flour and such) The other I think is about 600 bolivars for a dollar. So if you've saved up 100k in bolivars, all of a sudden it's only worth 1k american dollars when before it was worth like 70k. Venezuela is the only place where your currency has value, no other country would bother taking your notes. 2) What place will take you? Especially if you don't have any valued skills. To emigrate to another country requires a lot of paperwork and money. I don't think you can simply claim refugee status cause you're from Venezuela (yet). Basically, if you're a farmer or former middle class worker without foreign currency holdings or connections, you're stuck. Columbia doesn't want a huge influx of unskilled labor, neither does Brazil or the United States.