As despair continues to engulf Venezuela, voters go to the polls

[Zorro]

Source: LA Times

Mariana Leal won't be voting in Sunday's presidential election because she believes the fix is in for President Nicolas Maduro to win reelection. Besides, the physical therapist from Caracas has something better to do: pack for her imminent departure from Venezuela.

"These elections don't mean anything," said Leal, 29, as she prepared to sell her last possessions in her east Caracas apartment before leaving for Colombia. "There won't be any real change. To the contrary, the deterioration of the country will accelerate."

Leal's intention to skip voting and determination to leave her native country are typical of the sentiments of many Venezuelans ahead of Sunday's election in which Maduro is expected to win his race against former Lara state Gov. Henri Falcon and evangelist preacher Javier Bertucci.

Disgust with Maduro among Venezuelans is running high due to the lack of food, medical care, galloping annual inflation of 14,000%, and a poverty rate that now encompasses 80% of the population. Reports of widespread hunger and massive unemployment are common.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-venezuela-election-20180519-story.html

[quartz007]

1. Experiment gone bad..in Venezuela

It used to be a rich country once.

[Mike Rows His Boat]

2. With a vast majority poor.

You call that a rich country?
Morally bankrupt then, and, apparently, morally bankrupt now.

[quartz007]

5. Back in 1961, when I was a foreign student at U of Iowa

one of my good friends was a grad student from Venezuela named Alberto. I learned many things about Venezuela first hand from him. I got the impression Venezuela had a thriving middle class then.

[Scurrilous]

3. That's one revolution that went south in a hurry.

[Igel]

6. Most do.

Even the Soviet experiment was a disaster until the NEP. Stalin built a lot of the country on the bodies of workers, some nominally free and some in GULags.

It's harder to have this kind of revolution now, though. Borders are leakier for information flow than ever before, and when you have starvation it's hard to mask it and dupe the outside world and inside party base. What's left is telling them not to care--which was also the Soviet party line, "those people have more than you, they don't really count as real people, they don't feel pain like you do."

[Archae]

4. There still are a few here...

Who blame the CIA.

"Maduro can do no wrong!"

[7962]

10. Oh yes, even before Chavez died we had the "CIA is responsible for -X-" crowd.

theyre still here; you'll see them post from time to time. Just search any VZ OP and you'll see them

[Archae]

16. Just today a Maduro fan club member spoke up...

In the LBN forum, in an article about the corrupt dictator Maduro "winning" that country's "election."

[7962]

17. Unbelievable that this still occurs here, on an educated forum.

I guess there really ARE some here who are totally lost to the far left cause of failure.

[JI7]

7. Fuck maduro

[Scarsdale]

8. Could this be

a vision of the future of the US under tRump and the gop? The Russians have managed to disrupt more than enough of the country's checks and balances in just over one year. Ryan is busy dismantling Social Security and Medicare before he retires to a comfortable retirement on the money he has amassed during his time "representing" the people. These politicians represent nobody but themselves, especially the gop, the party of "family values". For a mediocre politician, he has done very well selling himself to the rich donors.

[7962]

11. No.

Our system does not allow for Maduro type bullshit. I remember when W was president we had people saying he would find a way to "cancel the elections" in 08. And I heard the same BS from the RW when Obama was president.
Seems like ever since 9/11 happened theres a conspiracy for EVERY subject you can think of.

Trump will be out in '20, if not before.

[hack89]

15. No

We don't give the government absolute control over the economy.

[MichMan]

12. Don't see much here from the Hugo Chavez fan club these days.............

[Zorro]

13. Most have migrated over to the JPR treehouse

[roamer65]

14. I'll quote JFK.

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.”

[7962]

18. I just wonder "how long?" When will they finally take to the streets & free their country?

Is it when they KNOW the military wont shoot them?

[christx30]

19. See Syria. N/t

[Archae]

20. I predict it'll go to a far-right dictatorship.

I know I could be dead wrong, and I hope I am.

But I've seen it before in Central and South America.