• naturalgasbad@lemmy.caOP
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    8 months ago

    Venezuela’s economic recovery under a strict regime of US sanctions has been awe-inspiring.

    • az04@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      As someone with several family members in Venezuela and many more who fled the country: The only awe inspiring thing about Maduro’s regime is how someone so incompetent and uncharismatic can stay in power this long.

      Medicine is in short supply and if you want any chance of surviving a serious illness you go to private clinics, which always only accept dollars.

      A 40 year old cousin of mine died because they didn’t have medicine that would have been in most hospitals in other countries. A 28 year old cousin of mine died of covid because there were no spots available in any clinic near her. My 60 year old uncle lost both his legs from a diabetes-linked infection because the state of his mental health didn’t allow him to take the meds prescribed by a private clinic at home and we didn’t have money to commit him.

      Everyone there is fucked, even those who work for state companies.

      A 35 year old cousin of mine worked for years for the state oil company and bought a very nice, big house in a brand new development. But when inflation was at infinity% and food was hard to get and she decided to leave the country for the sake of her children, she couldn’t sell her house for any amount of money to anyone, because everyone in the country was trying to leave(and still are, 6 years later).

      If you want to keep believing that communism could possibly work before a post scarcity world, fine. I guess the fact you haven’t seen any communist country be socially liberal as well as having high wages for the average worker is just a byproduct of not trying it enough times. But if you want some shred of evidence that communism works don’t look to Venezuela. Look to Vietnam or China or something. Venezuelans are only saved from starvation thanks to oil and charity.

      And if you want to paint the US as the source of all evils and praise those who do well while being cut off from it, then mention Cuba. They actually have some redeeming qualities.

      • novibe@lemmy.ml
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        8 months ago

        “Vuvuzela communist hell hole” 😭💀

        All of Venezuela’s policies since Hugo Chavez would be considered at most center-left in most of Europe. Venezuela is at most a social-democratic country with a lot of populism.

        And you talk about China when saying “communism” doesn’t work? Bro, China never said it was communist first of all, and China isn’t working? Are you insane? China is by far the country with the biggest increase in quality of life and purchasing power in the world. Have you even seen a Chinese city nowadays?

        When China sucks it’s communist, but when it’s the fastest growing, strongest economy in the world it’s capitalist?

        And CUBA? Bro a country that has been basically under economic siege for the past 60 years and STILL has better health outcomes than the US?? The country with the most sustainable economy in the planet? The country that just last year passed democratically the most progressive constitution in the history of humanity??

        You are a brainwashed liberal, like so many of the shitheads I’ve met that left Venezuela. You have 0 material analysis, it’s all vibes and ideology and parroting US think tank talking points. You don’t understand the reality of your own fucking country AT ALL.

        • 小莱卡@lemmygrad.ml
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          8 months ago

          You know it’s not a serious comment when they avoid mentioning economic sanctions and completely focus on the goverment.

        • az04@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          As long as Venezuelans keep blaming the US for Venezuela’s problems instead of looking inward, especially to their own corrupt government, things won’t get better for them.

          Using the US as an external enemy is great for holding onto power but it doesn’t improve people’s lives. Transparency, democracy and accountability improve people’s lives. These are things most of Europe have and Venezuela does not. Venezuela has vastly different policies from center-left European countries and I’d know because I live in one.

          You don’t have to defend China or Cuba because I don’t want to attack them. I wish Venezuela would be like China or Cuba. At least my family wouldn’t go without power, starve or die needlessly.

          Maduro has to go, and chavistas need to stop blaming everyone but the government for their problems. But I suspect even after everyone has left and only chavistas remain, they’ll still blame someone else. Don’t encourage them.

          • 小莱卡@lemmygrad.ml
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            8 months ago

            Venezuela has a legitimate reason to complain about the US, they are under economic sanctions imposed by them that directly impact their ability to develop and fucking kill people. This rhetoric that they should pull themselves by their bootstraps is nonsense, lift the sanctions and then you could have an argument that they’re inefficient.

    • No_Ones_Slick_Like_Gaston@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Yeah, after all, this softening of oil sanctions in an environment where the oil revenue is flowing into state coffins it’ll be refreshing to see pensions and salaries adjusted beyond the current $5/month.