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Is anybody claiming otherwise? It seems pretty obvious that someone there messed up majorly for a long time.

Mountain_Skies 7y ago
There are people who for ideological reasons blame all of Venezuela's woes on external factors. Then again, there are some for ideological reasons who claim external factors haven't made things worse than the terrible leadership has made it. Not sure of the ratio of blame that should go to internal leadership versus external factors but it does seem like poor leadership has made it easier for external forces to worsen the situation.
- SuoDuanDao 7y ago
  There is also the fact that, with the American playbook for regime change being what it is, there is quite a lot of skepticism about the sudden surge to prominence in the news cycle about the governance woes of a very oil-rich nation, irrespective of how legitimate reports of the mismanagement actually are.
ramblerman 7y ago
The people who barricaded the Venezuelan embassy when there was an attempted coup against Maduro for one. There is a big ideological drive to show that communism works, and as such all the problems Venezuela faces are just imperialism at work (In their argument).
- hutzlibu 7y ago
  And on the other side there are lots of people trying to show how it all does not work, while ignoring that the super power number one does all they can, except open military actions, to make it not work. In other words, to me the situation in Venezuela does not prove anything, in terms of political ideology.
- crdoconnor 7y ago
  There's a bigger ideological drive to show that taking US oil assets in the country and diverting the funds toward social programs was a dire mistake.
- asdfgasd 7y ago
  Venezuela has less public ownership of resources than even the US. To say that they are 'communist' is an ideological farce. People are opposed to regime change because the US government has a long history of destabilizing foreign governments in deference to US capital interests. It's unlikely their motivations are just, especially as the people involved were responsible for some of the worst atrocities in Southern American governments in the 50's-90's. Furthermore, applying economic sanctions hurts the material conditions of poor Venezuelans without significantly affecting the corrupt government. This is evidence the US does not have a strong interest in helping poor Venezuelans, but primarily forcing regime change to a government more amenable to the interests of US oil companies. If the US was truly a force for good, wouldn't we see the same pressure on the Bolsonaro regime in Brazil? The story is similar, a corrupt rise to power achieve through unjustly jailing political opponents. If you doubt this, read Glenn Greenwald's reporting in The Intercept.

There are people who for ideological reasons blame all of Venezuela's woes on external factors. Then again, there are some for ideological reasons who claim external factors haven't made things worse than the terrible leadership has made it. Not sure of the ratio of blame that should go to internal leadership versus external factors but it does seem like poor leadership has made it easier for external forces to worsen the situation.

SuoDuanDao 7y ago
There is also the fact that, with the American playbook for regime change being what it is, there is quite a lot of skepticism about the sudden surge to prominence in the news cycle about the governance woes of a very oil-rich nation, irrespective of how legitimate reports of the mismanagement actually are.

ramblerman 7y ago

The people who barricaded the Venezuelan embassy when there was an attempted coup against Maduro for one. There is a big ideological drive to show that communism works, and as such all the problems Venezuela faces are just imperialism at work (In their argument).

hutzlibu 7y ago
And on the other side there are lots of people trying to show how it all does not work, while ignoring that the super power number one does all they can, except open military actions, to make it not work. In other words, to me the situation in Venezuela does not prove anything, in terms of political ideology.
crdoconnor 7y ago
There's a bigger ideological drive to show that taking US oil assets in the country and diverting the funds toward social programs was a dire mistake.
asdfgasd 7y ago
Venezuela has less public ownership of resources than even the US. To say that they are 'communist' is an ideological farce. People are opposed to regime change because the US government has a long history of destabilizing foreign governments in deference to US capital interests. It's unlikely their motivations are just, especially as the people involved were responsible for some of the worst atrocities in Southern American governments in the 50's-90's. Furthermore, applying economic sanctions hurts the material conditions of poor Venezuelans without significantly affecting the corrupt government. This is evidence the US does not have a strong interest in helping poor Venezuelans, but primarily forcing regime change to a government more amenable to the interests of US oil companies. If the US was truly a force for good, wouldn't we see the same pressure on the Bolsonaro regime in Brazil? The story is similar, a corrupt rise to power achieve through unjustly jailing political opponents. If you doubt this, read Glenn Greenwald's reporting in The Intercept.