Socialist Venezuela Punishes Returnees during Covid Crisis -

Photo: Government of Venezuela

SOCIALIST VENEZUELA PUNISHES RETURNEES. The more socialist a government becomes, the less accountability it shows to its people. Just look at Venezuela. It is getting away with under-testing and under-reporting cases of Covid-19, which has spread rampant. Moreover, it is blaming returning Venezuelans, who are coming after the spread.

These returnees left impoverished Venezuela looking to make a living elsewhere. But many lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 lockdowns and ensuing poverty in surrounding countries.

In fact, the UN World Food Program projects a 269% increase of malnourished people throughout Latin America. But returning Venezuelans face a rude homecoming.

According to Venezuelan National Assemblyman Jose Luis Pirela, President Nicolas Maduro “has ordered the military and police to apply cruel treatments and physical punishments for returning to Venezuela.” Pirela is also President of Commission for Anti-Narcotics, Anti-Terrorism & Organized Crime.

He adds that “Maduro calls them ‘bioterrorists’” in order to stigmatize the returnees. Countless of them are waiting at the border to re-enter legally. The government allows only 1,200 to return per week. Many have to live for months in unsanitary quarantine camps, exposing them to infection. As a result, hundreds are paying smugglers to help them cross illegally. In turn, smugglers are paying government officials to look the other way.

From one unsanitary camp to another

But those who return illegally, if caught, are often put in unsanitary quarantine camps or centers in Venezuela. And there, even hospitals cannot guarantee safe havens.

Pirela goes on to say, “[M]any people have fled hospitals due to the lack of water, food, and basic services. Even doctors and nurses have died because they cannot work with the required protection… In Venezuela, the health care system is severely deteriorated… the scarcity of medicines even spans onto the most basic such as aspirin.”

Since the socialist regime controls distribution, the socialist regime gets the blame. About 40-50 protests occur every day over shortages of water, food, fuel, and medicines. Clashes with military and police have resulted in 2,267 civilian deaths in January-June alone.

IMF economists call Venezuela’s socialist failure the worst non-war economic collapse in 40+ years. They attribute the devastation to poor governance, corruption and ill-advised policies. And yet politicians in the US and around the world are calling for more socialism. Do they want worse government for these worsening times? When will they learn?