Tag: Juan Guaidó

The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same

Richard Barnes

As a year ends and another begins, it is good to pause and look back at recent events and developments in Venezuela which have been alluded to in the blog.

Malaria is making a comeback in Latin America, with Venezuela earning the unfortunate distinction of leading in this revival. Refer to the August 17, 2019 blog post, “Clouds of DDT” https://thepulloftheland.com/clouds-of-ddt for a discussion of the phenomenally successful control of malaria in Venezuela in the 20th century (we don’t hear much about this because DDT is politically incorrect. Best keep quiet about that!). For an update on the return of malaria to the stricken land, refer to the Caracas Chronicles article, “Blame the Gold Rush: Malaria Keeps Spreading”, link below.

The December 13, 2019 blog post, “The Lost Children of Vargas” The Lost Children of Vargas tells of the terrible events precipitated by the rains of December 1999. For one account of that calamity, you might want to read another Caracas Chronicles narrative, “Only Two of Us Survived”, linked below. It is a heart-wrenching tale about the then-mayor of Vargas. Incredibly, politics intruded in this devastation. Assuming your heart is not made of stone, he will speak to you.

What about the elderly? Again, the redoubtable Caracas Chronicles has an interesting article about the demographic unit, the elderly, included in the millions who have voted with their feet, emigrating from the stricken land. The March 12, 2019 blog post, “Humanitarian Crisis” Humanitarian Crisis tells of this catastrophic migration. The Caracas Chronicles article about the older folks in the throngs is linked below.

You may have read recently about Juan Guaidó’s re-election as Speaker of the Venezuelan National Assembly. His breaking through the wall of Chavista soldiers a few days ago, might inspire hope. However, I’m afraid that hope will likely be dashed absent a true change of heart by Mr. Guaidó, wherein he sincerely rejects Socialism. Otherwise, all we’re talking about is a switch from leaded to slightly-less-leaded Socialism: both more of the same and both deadly. See the September 20, 2019 blog post, “Venezuelan Second Amendment?” for comments on this potential bait and switch A Venezuelan Second Amendment? 

Contra Caracas Chronicles, this blogger has little faith in Mr. Guaidó and his party, Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD, no pun intended). First of all, do not put your faith in princes. So says the Good Book. Secondly, MUD and Guaidó may talk “big”, but their actions are sheer accommodation with the tyrannical regime. From gun control to submission to controlled elections, MUD and its supporters are no Founding Fathers.

And Founding Fathers are what Venezuela needs at this moment.

Pray for the land of my birth.

Blame the Gold Rush: Malaria Keeps Spreading
‘Only Two of Us Survived’
Older Venezuelans Also Deserve to Rebuild Their Lives Abroad
For the second year in a row, Venezuela emigration has been deemed by UN as a top migration issue in the world, second only to Syria’s.
The Vargas disaster continues to echo in modern memory twenty years later. 
Read it and weep

A Venezuelan Second Amendment?

Richard Barnes

Since I believe the articles alluded to in this post are worthy of the reader’s time and consideration, I will keep my own words brief so as to afford you the time to read the articles and ponder them on your own.

The group, Rumbo Libertad, has proposed a Venezuelan Second Amendment. Unsurprisingly, the official “opposition” opposes this and has gone so far as to ratify the Chavez era’s gun control policy, “also known as Ley Desarme [Law of Disarmament], implying with his arguments that criminals and law-abiding citizens are equal…. Guaidó used the fact that socialist thugs disguise themselves as police to attack unarmed citizens as an argument to keep self-defense weapons out of … citizen’s hands.”

The current Venezuelan constitution stipulates that only the State can possess arms and that this must be enforced by the official armed forces.

How convenient.

I have no connection with Rumbo Libertad. I do not know any of its leadership. I do not know anything about it other than what I am presenting to you in this post. However, I am tickled to see that there is a brave group in Venezuela who appeals to Natural Law (presumably they mean the law of Nature’s God, as in our Declaration) and to the United States Constitution. 

The second link below is to the Rumbo Libertad position on self-defense. Please note that it is in Spanish.

For a more general-readership, the World article (first link below) is excellent.

“The idea of having the means to protect your home was seen as only needed out in the fields. People never would have believed they needed to defend themselves against the government,” Vanegas explained. “Venezuelans evolved to always hope that our government would be non-tyrannical, non-violator of human rights, and would always have a good enough control of criminality.”

That is an astounding statement which could only be made or believed by a people unwilling to look beyond yesterday’s headlines.

Venezuela’s “revolution” was perhaps the most violent and bloody of the lot. “Leaders” ranging from Bolivar to Bove spilled countless gallons of civilian and prisoner blood, as is usually the case in “revolutions” which attempt to impose an ideology as opposed to a defense of hearth and home. After the revolutionary wars, criminality was incredible. Once dictators began to rule, criminality receded to a point where ladies and children could walk freely, undisturbed, even at night. Then criminality made a comeback, along with tyranny. By the late 90’s, it spiked back to the frightening levels of today.

“Much of the crime has been attributed by analysts to government-backed gangs — referred to in Spanish as ‘collectivos’ [sic]– who were deliberately put in place by the government.”

“So while Venezuelan citizens were stripped of their legal recourse to bear arms, the ‘collectivos’ [sic]– established by Chavez when he came to power — were legally locked and loaded. Deemed crucial to the survival of the socialist dictatorship, the ‘collectivos’ [sic] function to brutally subjugate opposition groups, while saving some face as they aren’t officially government forces, critics contend.” 

The article doesn’t mention it, but the use of armed thugs as collectives is based on the Cuban model. Nor does the article mention that Chavez and Guaidó are in agreement with experts in modern history, such as Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, who also believed in disarming their citizens. Most recently, the China-controlled Global Times published a smarmy article about the need for gun control in the United States.

Thanks for the advice.

Maribel Arias, 35, who fled to the Colombian border with her family two years ago – living mostly on the streets as she and her husband take turns finding odd jobs while sharing the parenting duties for their four children – said Venezuelans cannot rely on the nation’s law enforcement.
“Crimes are committed by police, a lot of the criminals are police themselves,” Saul Moros, 59, from the Venezuelan city of Valencia (left). Luis Farias, 48, said gun violence was bad when guns were freely available – but became much worse after the so-called prohibition. (Fox News/Hollie McKay)

Having been born in Venezuela, the photos and captions above strongly tug at my heart.

One final pull quote: “The problem from the beginning and still now is that there are too many people in Venezuela who are lawless.”

Well said and very applicable to us here in the United States. To be free, we must know how to govern our own selves. Put another way, the most basic government is self government. 

I think it was William Penn who said, “You will be governed by God, or, by God, you will be governed.” Put in another, more contemporary way, “Either govern yourself or be governed by tyrants.”

That’s a problem not only in Venezuela, but increasingly here in the United States as well.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/venezuelans-regret-gun-prohibition-we-could-have-defended-ourselves
Policy to institutionalize the right to bear arms. 

The link below is in Spanish. If you are able to read in Spanish, you will note the appeal to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution:

https://rumbolibertad.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/PROPUESTA-DE-POLÍTICA-PARA-INSTITUCIONALIZAR-LA-PROPIEDAD-DE-ARMAS-EN-VENEZUELA-1.pdf