Venezuelan News

The Daily Signal reports on Venezuela with conservative analysis of the Maduro regime, economic devastation from socialist policies, humanitarian crisis, refugee flows, U.S. sanctions policy, and the warnings Venezuela provides about centralized economic control.
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  • opinion

    Venezuela’s Crisis Is the Latest Example of Why Socialism Doesn’t Work
    It seems the “Socialism of the 21th Century” is really no different from socialism from the past. Venezuela’s current tragedy, simultaneously culminating in food shortages, a crime epidemic, and an energy collapse, is the latest example of why centralized planning economy does not work—and how it is indistinguishable from tyranny. In the South American country,…
    Gabriel de Arruda Castro | Ana Quintana
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  • opinion

    The Bizarre Reality of Venezuela’s Energy Crisis
    Venezuela is facing an electricity shortage so severe that President Nicolas Maduro extended the national Easter holiday by decree to decrease demand for it. The government is effectively shutting down the country for five days with the hopes of staving off an impending infrastructural collapse. That’s right: The country with the largest proven oil reserves in…
    Ricardo Pita | Ana Quintana
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  • opinion

    Venezuelans Fighting for Economic Freedom
    A broad coalition of anti-government parties in Venezuela announced a plan this month to oust President Nicolás Maduro. The plan includes constitutionally legal mechanisms to shorten the president’s term, a recall referendum, and public protests demanding Maduro’s resignation. Hand-picked by Hugo Chávez, Maduro is now the face of executive branch corruption in Venezuela. Now recent…
    Tori K. Smith | Tyler Yeatts
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  • opinion

    Venezuela Staves Off Default in Advance of Dec. 6 Election
    Legislative and municipal elections this weekend might give Venezuelans a chance to get out from under the oppressive reign of corruption and criminality that have been the hallmarks of the government of President Nicolás Maduro. But don’t hold your breath. Maduro has warned that he will not “surrender the revolution” to an opposition victory, and…
    James M. Roberts
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  • opinion

    Venezuela’s Economic Crisis
    The effects of 21st-century socialism in Venezuela are horrifying. According to the International Monetary Fund, Venezuela’s economy will shrink by at least 10 percent in the upcoming year. Venezuela is suffering from the fastest inflation rate in the world, with the rate reaching triple digits. Their currency, the bolivar, is practically worthless despite the exchange…
    Arlecchino Gomez
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  • opinion

    Now Hugo Chávez’s PetroCaribe Program Is Hurting Venezuelans
    Remember those funny commercials where the opera stars sing, “I have a structured settlement and I need cash now!”? Nicolás Maduro knows what they mean. Hugo Chávez set up PetroCaribe a decade ago when he was flush with cash and eager to buy friends and influence for his oil-rich country and the “Chavista” brand of…
    James M. Roberts
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  • opinion

    Venezuela’s Chavistas Win Big if Keystone XL Pipeline Loses
    In an attempt to save her Senate seat, Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (D) has launched a “Hail Mary XL legislative strategy” by pushing for congressional approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring 380,000 barrels of oil daily from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast. Not to be outdone, Representative Bill Cassidy (R–LA), her…
    James M. Roberts
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  • opinion

    Why the US Needs to Keep Venezuela Out of the UN Security Council
    Today marks the 238th day opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez has spent locked away in a Venezuelan military prison. Arrested for leading peaceful antigovernment demonstrations, Leopoldo is currently standing trial and could face up to 10 years in prison. Much like the recent demonstrations seen in Ukraine, the Venezuelan government’s response has been deadly and undemocratic….
    Ana Quintana | Brett Schaefer
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  • news

    ‘Whatever It Takes’: U.S. Action Encourages Opposition to Venezuelan Regime
    At dawn last Friday, a group of hooded men — hidden, but unmistakably officers from Venezuela’s Military Intelligence — burst into the cell of political prisoner Leopoldo Lopez. They repeatedly punched him, then tied him up and took his belongings. For almost five months, Lopez, an opposition leader jailed after the Venezuelan government accused him…
    Josh Siegel
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  • opinion

    Venezuela: Government Uses Forged E-Mails to Quell Democratic Opposition
    Venezuela has issued arrest warrants for three opposition leaders for allegedly trying to destabilize the country’s socialist government and assassinate its president. These people are Diego Arria, Venezuela’s former ambassador to the United Nations; Pedro Burelli, former external director of Petroleos de Venezuela, the country’s national oil company; and Ricardo Koesling, attorney and prominent member…
    Andrea Rodriguez
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