UN Venezuela Megathread - Mercenaries 2 references galore! Cubanodun is MVP

With the news of an attempted army uprising ending in many arrests happening in the troubled nation, I think now is the time to just say 'Post all Venezuela related news here'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-40843494

The civil war is upon us.

 

[Far Queue]

While Scandinavian economies aren't exactly socialist, they aren't exactly capitalistic either. Compared to what you have in USA, they are definitely far more towards socialism than your capitalism is, or perhaps ever will be. They are very heavily regulated forms of capitalism, with very powerful leftist parties(we don't have anything else, even our most fiscally ultra-right parties are really far more to the left than your Democrats) and labor unions dictating the amount of regulation as they see fit. Basically all schools are public(even universities) and free of charge, almost all infrastructure is state-owned and public health service is almost free for all citizens. In my country, two large state-owned corporations own more than 90% of grocery stores. Strong alcohol is sold only in state-owned monopoly and gambling is also state-owned monopoly. You can call that capitalism, but it sure as hell isn't capitalism in the same sense USA has. And then there is of course the welfare aspect to all this, but I'm not in the mood to describe it right now.

That's a very gross oversimplification and wrong on many counts. Most of the Scandinavian countries have no minimum wage laws, Sweden has a voucher system for schools and as a result a large number of charter schools, and Finland has more private roads by milage than public roads by a considerable margin. Denmark has some of the fewest regulations towards starting and running a business and has a better economic freedom ranking than the U.S. according to the Fraser institute. Up until Trump's tax cuts on businesses, all of those countries also had vastly lower corporate income taxes than the United States and lower than most other European countries.

I'm also not sure what country you're in based on the claim of 90% state owned grocery stores. Of the main countries I looked at, none of them fit that description. Many of the Scandinavian countries do have one or more large cooperatives that own grocery chains, but those are entirely different than state-owned corporations or even privately owned corporations. I believe all of the Scandinavian countries outside of Denmark only sell alcohol through government owned stores, but there are several U.S. states that have similar arrangements, though typically only for hard liquor.

Also, none of those services are free. The Scandinavian countries pay for all of it, main through incredibly high taxes which everyone pays, not just the rich. Many people who can afford to also supplement their government provided healthcare with private insurance, such that about 20% of healthcare spending per capita is private. I'll grant you that the U.S. is much worse, but coincidentally it spends more on public healthcare per capita than most of the Scandinavian countries so we're not some bastion of free market principles in this area either.

None of the Scandinavian countries are socialist when examined in terms of actual policy and almost all of them contain several areas in which they embrace free market principles better than most other western democracies. The claim also makes less sense when looked at historically as over time the Scandinavian countries have moved more towards market-based policies and away from the communistic policies of their past. Maybe some of this belief comes from things like Norway's state owned oil company and the sovereign wealth fund that they created, but they barely spend from that at all and only tapped into it for the first time quite recently. It's mostly been accruing value. Perhaps that (and the high income taxes) are what leads to this belief, but they are more free market capitalist than the vast majority of the world.

Iceland is perhaps the only one that does lean quite a bit more left when looked at as a whole, but it's a small nation both geographically and in terms of population. It's unlikely that its policies would work anywhere near as effectively in a larger country.

 

[Bum Driller]

That's a very gross oversimplification and wrong on many counts. Most of the Scandinavian countries have no minimum wage laws, Sweden has a voucher system for schools and as a result a large number of charter schools, and Finland has more private roads by milage than public roads by a considerable margin. Denmark has some of the fewest regulations towards starting and running a business and has a better economic freedom ranking than the U.S. according to the Fraser institute. Up until Trump's tax cuts on businesses, all of those countries also had vastly lower corporate income taxes than the United States and lower than most other European countries.

I'm also not sure what country you're in based on the claim of 90% state owned grocery stores. Of the main countries I looked at, none of them fit that description. Many of the Scandinavian countries do have one or more large cooperatives that own grocery chains, but those are entirely different than state-owned corporations or even privately owned corporations. I believe all of the Scandinavian countries outside of Denmark only sell alcohol through government owned stores, but there are several U.S. states that have similar arrangements, though typically only for hard liquor.

Also, none of those services are free. The Scandinavian countries pay for all of it, main through incredibly high taxes which everyone pays, not just the rich. Many people who can afford to also supplement their government provided healthcare with private insurance, such that about 20% of healthcare spending per capita is private. I'll grant you that the U.S. is much worse, but coincidentally it spends more on public healthcare per capita than most of the Scandinavian countries so we're not some bastion of free market principles in this area either.

None of the Scandinavian countries are socialist when examined in terms of actual policy and almost all of them contain several areas in which they embrace free market principles better than most other western democracies. The claim also makes less sense when looked at historically as over time the Scandinavian countries have moved more towards market-based policies and away from the communistic policies of their past. Maybe some of this belief comes from things like Norway's state owned oil company and the sovereign wealth fund that they created, but they barely spend from that at all and only tapped into it for the first time quite recently. It's mostly been accruing value. Perhaps that (and the high income taxes) are what leads to this belief, but they are more free market capitalist than the vast majority of the world.

Iceland is perhaps the only one that does lean quite a bit more left when looked at as a whole, but it's a small nation both geographically and in terms of population. It's unlikely that its policies would work anywhere near as effectively in a larger country.

I'm just saying what I'm seeing on the ground. I live in one of the Scandinavian countries, although of course I'm not exactly an expert on matters of economy. When I say that this is regulated capitalist economy, I really mean it. It's not the same as socialism per se, but it's very far from being real capitalism. What I mean by regulation is quite simply that there are myriads of rules that you must follow in almost every aspect of economic life, and failure to follow these rules often leads to getting your licenses and permits revoked. Several businesses are directly regulated(for example apothecaries), in such a way that getting a license to sell medicine is a long and hard road, and is completely dependent on circumstances. Several other businesses, like selling firearms, alcohol in restaurants, tobacco in grocery stores or any kind of explosives, including fireworks, are also under tight scrutiny(selling of fireworks is permitted only just before New Years eve). If you have any kind of restaurant, there are myriads of safety and health regulations which are absurdly tight. Smoking in restaurants is blanket banned, and all establishments serving alcohol must close down either at 2 or 4 AM, depending on their license. Grocery stores are allowed to sell only alcohol of less than 5,5% proof, and never after 9 PM, nor before 9 AM. All other alcohol is sold only in state-owned monopoly stores. It's illegal to advertise tobacco products, to the point that it's illegal to keep tobacco products in sight of customers, or to even tell them what brands you're selling. It's illegal to sell pornography in grocery stores. It's legal to sell sex, but illegal to buy it. Even so menial jobs like truck driving or being a janitor need their own permits and licences, and we're not talking about driving licence here.

Yes, we have lots of private roads per mileage. It doesn't matter one inch, since it's illegal to block your private road from being used publicly(at least where I live) or to collect road tolls. It just means that some landowner has to pay the maintenance out of his own pocket, without getting anything in return. All the main roads are public and maintained with taxation.

You're very correct that it's the high taxation that pays for the "free" services these countries provide, because of course nothing in this world is really free. On top of that everything that is taxable is taxed, from inheritances to received gifts, if their value exceeds certain quite low limit.

And for the last, let's talk about the "mandatory minimum wage laws". Yes, we don't have them, because we don't need them. We have labor unions, which together with employers union and the government every once in a while negotiate new deal for minimum wage. Because the labor unions are extremely strong here, it means that wages are never lowered, and the same negotiated amounts apply to all employees of given profession, regardless of their employer. Labor unions never agree to employers demands to weaken the minimum wage, and on occasion someone seriously even considers proposing such, they immediately threaten with general strike which means halting the whole economy at once until their demands are met.

I don't know about the specifics of the school system of Sweden. Here where I live, all schools are public, and whether you're rich or poor, you put your children to same schools.

 

[Raging Capybara]

I'm just saying what I'm seeing on the ground. I live in one of the Scandinavian countries, although of course I'm not exactly an expert on matters of economy. When I say that this is regulated capitalist economy, I really mean it. It's not the same as socialism per se, but it's very far from being real capitalism. What I mean by regulation is quite simply that there are myriads of rules that you must follow in almost every aspect of economic life, and failure to follow these rules often leads to getting your licenses and permits revoked. Several businesses are directly regulated(for example apothecaries), in such a way that getting a license to sell medicine is a long and hard road, and is completely dependent on circumstances. Several other businesses, like selling firearms, alcohol in restaurants, tobacco in grocery stores or any kind of explosives, including fireworks, are also under tight scrutiny(selling of fireworks is permitted only just before New Years eve). If you have any kind of restaurant, there are myriads of safety and health regulations which are absurdly tight. Smoking in restaurants is blanket banned, and all establishments serving alcohol must close down either at 2 or 4 AM, depending on their license. Grocery stores are allowed to sell only alcohol of less than 5,5% proof, and never after 9 PM, nor before 9 AM. All other alcohol is sold only in state-owned monopoly stores. It's illegal to advertise tobacco products, to the point that it's illegal to keep tobacco products in sight of customers, or to even tell them what brands you're selling. It's illegal to sell pornography in grocery stores. It's legal to sell sex, but illegal to buy it. Even so menial jobs like truck driving or being a janitor need their own permits and licences, and we're not talking about driving licence here.

Yes, we have lots of private roads per mileage. It doesn't matter one inch, since it's illegal to block your private road from being used publicly(at least where I live) or to collect road tolls. It just means that some landowner has to pay the maintenance out of his own pocket, without getting anything in return. All the main roads are public and maintained with taxation.

You're very correct that it's the high taxation that pays for the "free" services these countries provide, because of course nothing in this world is really free. On top of that everything that is taxable is taxed, from inheritances to received gifts, if their value exceeds certain quite low limit.

And for the last, let's talk about the "mandatory minimum wage laws". Yes, we don't have them, because we don't need them. We have labor unions, which together with employers union and the government every once in a while negotiate new deal for minimum wage. Because the labor unions are extremely strong here, it means that wages are never lowered, and the same negotiated amounts apply to all employees of given profession, regardless of their employer. Labor unions never agree to employers demands to weaken the minimum wage, and on occasion someone seriously even considers proposing such, they immediately threaten with general strike which means halting the whole economy at once until their demands are met.

I don't know about the specifics of the school system of Sweden. Here where I live, all schools are public, and whether you're rich or poor, you put your children to same schools.

I know the HDI in these places is astronomical, and I live in south america that is a massive shithole. But in my opinion you literally described hell.

Fuck this place, lmao.

I can mostly agree with you even if you are baiting

I'm with you, man. Latin America is just that: a never-ending succession of mentally impaired psychopaths destroying already destroyed countries.

Argentina elected a "right wing" blue-eyed angel some years ago and they're once again defaulting. Here in Brazil, we elected a supposedly commie killer machine but the economy is (almost) in recession, and a lot of people are already talking about out of control inflation for the next years.

There's no hope or solution. Fuck this cursed land, nothing good can come out of here. Even the natives were lazy degenerates who didn't develop even agriculture before the Europeans.

 

[Cubanodun]

Argentina elected a "right wing" blue-eyed angel some years ago and they're once again defaulting. Here in Brazil, we elected a supposedly commie killer machine but the economy is (almost) in recession, and a lot of people are already talking about out of control inflation for the next years.

Remember that those countries are coming out of Pro-Chaviztas government, Argentina had to deal with the Empire of the Kichners for years until they finally got so hated that they were kicked out, Brazil had to deal with Lula and Dilma two pro chaviztas commie fucks that poisoned the place so hard that it will take millennia to restore Brazil to something useful, if we get rid of Maduro we are going to suffer the same thing, dont expect miracles with a change of administration, the poison will take years to be eliminated and the economy will suffer the most because the main capital that a country can have is THRUST and business will not come to invest in your country is there is at least the minimum threat of the commies coming back, Thrust is also the main factor that make your currency useful, you can see how great thrust people have in our currency when you can see the bills of the highest denomination in garbage bins because you cant use them for anything

One of things latin america have to thank us for is that the dread of commies is so incredibly high that like i said before you only have to be DISTANT related to someone from the Venezuelan government, a little mention on twitter or ANY kind of contact with them to nuke your aspirations to the presidency, proof on that, the last Colombian presidential election, Gustavo Petro was leading in the pools until people unearthed a tweet were he defended Chavez policies that plus the current immigrant situation that Colombia lives (you think you Americans have a problem with immigrants? Colombia has it worse), the other guy just promised to help with the transition in Venezuela (to stop the immigrants ofc) and tackle bigger problems like for example the god awful peace treaty with the FARC one of the clauses that awful thing has is that the FARC have to be pardoned of fuck everything and be allowed to have a political party and have a shot to the presidency and seats in the senate EVEN if people dont vote for them, it went as well as you can expect, the only thing they do is bitch and moan about how no one like them, and they have to deal with internal struggles to decide if they are a marxist-leninist party or just eat the bullet and become a more popular and democratic oriented party this obviously is tearing them apart , the results of the peace treaty? fuck nothing, the FARC just moved shop to Venezuela where they are protected and keep being a nuisance to Colombia, the only positive part of this is that they are enemies of our own guerrillas and colectivos that want the dominance of the border

I mentioned this because im pretty sure one of the things that if the Chaviztas betray Maduro they are going to ask for the same things and the story is going to repeat itself, funny thing is that they are not going to have ANYWHERE to run and people is not going to give a shit about them

 

[Clones of Alex Jones]

Well Guaido asked for US intervention

 

[YW 525]

Well Guaido asked for US intervention
View attachment 757517

Thank you for the actual letter. Now I can refine a previous opinion I held a couple days ago.

This is desperate and pathetic. Guaido proves in writing that he is no better than Maduro, who needs Russians to prop up his failing regime. And now Guaido wants US assistance? Nah. Pass on it, Donald. Don't make the same mistake Vladimir made and tie yourself to a loser who just wants your money. Pretend he's one of your ex wives and all should become clear.

 

[AverageAnimeWatcher]

Well yeah, both are lefties trying to get power by using the might of more powerful countries.

But, in my opinion, the better one would be the one that can stop people literally dying from hunger and migrating to every other country. Maduro is an insane guy that thinks he speaks with birds, so if Guiado can't accomplish it, saving his people from hunger, then he is indeed no better than Maduro.

 

[YW 525]

It'd be hilarious if the Venezuelan people kicked them both out and decided to do it themselves. Even that would be better than the current state of affairs.

 

[Unog]

I was hoping someone else would ask this seeing as I don't know if it's a stupid question or not but, why is the only choice between a socialist and a communist? To clarify: is there some reason that nobody's come forward who is, or that the Venezuelan people don't want, a centrist or a right-winger?

 

[YW 525]

I was hoping someone else would ask this seeing as I don't know if it's a stupid question or not but, why is the only choice between a socialist and a communist? To clarify: is there some reason that nobody's come forward who is, or that the Venezuelan people don't want, a centrist or a right-winger?

I'm not an expert but this is a quick and dirty rundown of the general events that precipitated the current state of affairs. I strongly encourage you to do some follow up reading if you have a serious interest in this. You could spend a lifetime studying the downfall of Venezuela under the Chavez paradigm.

The last two regimes fall under the umbrella of the Bolivarian Revolution (which Hugo Chavez championed) and haven't exactly been friendly to non-Communist/Socialist actors. In 2002 there was a coup attempt which Chavez insisted was backed by the US government, further alienating ideas remotely related to the free market or whatever it was that they thought the US would support. And Chavez never really reinvested in the national oil industry, instead using the high oil prices to bankroll socialist welfare programs across the country.

And for a while a lot of their programs "worked". But it was mostly a mirage and during this time the leaders of Venezuela were unwilling or unable to recognize that it was all built on sand. The ruling class refused to diversify the economy in any meaningful fashion and when the price of oil dropped through the floor and then fell down the stairs everything began to unravel. You've got sub-par extracting and refining operations that need heavy investment to modernize but the money just isn't there anymore. And in a stroke of irony, one of the best places to refine Venezuela's junk oil is the United States. And a lot of those US companies are still kind of sore about their infrastructure projects being nationalized. Since most other nations with refining capacity have built it to handle better quality crude, Venezuela is further marginalized.

They're fucked because the Revolution spent the last 20 years paying everyone off instead of reinvesting in their strengths and attempting to open new sectors for growth. It's a tragedy that was entirely preventable.

 

[Ledian]

Well Guaido asked for US intervention
View attachment 757517

My feeling on this two fold. While I don't exactly want the US to intervene, we do that enough already, the issue is that Maduro is playing ball with a country we don't want involved on this side of the world. And as long as the Monroe Doctrine exists, letting it happen would be hearsay.
But then, considering he could easily just ask Columbia and Brazil to help instead of the US, it does make this seem pathetic. Columbia has been especially good at fighting guerilla's thanks to FARC and actually have a functioning economy (they're the second fastest growing economy in the world, so watch for the country to usurp Brazil as the major power in South America in the coming years) to pay for an actual military, unlike Maduro. Plus they have a good motive to intervene- namely, to stop the increasing flow of migrants.
To not ask Columbia with this in mind first just means he's: scared of the US or really Trump, expects an intervention but the US to leave afterwards wherein he can take full control himself, or has possibly made backroom deals involving their resources.

 

[Super-Chevy454]

There was another general who tell militairy to rise up against Maduro regime. I wonder if he feel then the SHTF more sooner then he thought?

Venezuelan general tells military to 'rise up' against Maduro regime

A Venezuelan general called on the country's armed forces on Sunday to rise up against President Nicolas Maduro, who has relied on the backing of the military to hold on to power despite an economic collapse.

www.cnbc.com

Venezuelan general tells military to ‘rise up’ against Maduro regime

Venezuelan general called on the country’s armed forces on Sunday to rise up against President Nicolas Maduro, who has relied on the backing of the military to hold on to power despite an economic collapse.

Ramon Rangel, who identified himself as an air force general, said the Venezuelan government is being controlled by the “communist dictatorship” in Cuba — a key Maduro ally.


“We have to find a way to get rid of the fear, to go out into the streets, to protest, and to seek a military union to change this political system,” Rangel, dressed in a suit with a copy of the constitution in his hand, said in a video posted on YouTube. “It’s time to rise up.”

While Rangel’s pronouncement marks another blow to Maduro after a handful of similar defections by senior officers this year, there is little to indicate that he will tip the scales.

 

[YW 525]

My feeling on this two fold. While I don't exactly want the US to intervene, we do that enough already, the issue is that Maduro is playing ball with a country we don't want involved on this side of the world. And as long as the Monroe Doctrine exists, letting it happen would be hearsay.
But then, considering he could easily just ask Columbia and Brazil to help instead of the US, it does make this seem pathetic. Columbia has been especially good at fighting guerilla's thanks to FARC and actually have a functioning economy (they're the second fastest growing economy in the world, so watch for the country to usurp Brazil as the major power in South America in the coming years) to pay for an actual military, unlike Maduro. Plus they have a good motive to intervene- namely, to stop the increasing flow of migrants.
To not ask Columbia with this in mind first just means he's: scared of the US or really Trump, expects an intervention but the US to leave afterwards wherein he can take full control himself, or has possibly made backroom deals involving their resources.

Let Russia overextend themselves with adventurism; the Soviet Union they are not. The Russian Federation cannot afford these sorts of games for an extended period of time without a major windfall, else they risk incurring damage domestically. And right now they're running around in Syria, Venezuela, North Korea, Crimea, and Eastern Europe in general. Putin has already been forced to raise the retirement age to stave off a run on social welfare and the price of oil has been lower than they need it to be. Combined with a need to keep up with Chinese military development (you think the Chinese are only stealing from the USA?) and Russia is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Nations like Russia (and China) do well as long as they keep the people happy. Look at Venezuela... once the spell is broken and the people start to get pissed en masse, there aren't too many options left on the table for stopping the mobs other than live ammunition. They must keep their people happy or else regime change occurs naturally since their systems don't have meaningful transition processes baked in.

 

[millais]

I'm sure it's common knowledge by now that the Cuban medical missions to Venezuela have been used for years by both governments as a means to coerce and encourage support for the Chavista political cause, but it's interesting to finally be able to read some of the firsthand accounts of the Cuban doctors in English. Sounds like even the Cubans cannot stomach the amount of political propagandizing they are forced to practice at the expense of ethical medical treatment.

The hidden world of doctors Cuba sends overseas

Thousands of Cuban doctors work in healthcare missions around the world. Some medics say conditions can be nightmarish.

www.bbc.com

 

[Raging Capybara]

They're just slaves. And I don't trust cuban medicine, they killed Chavez after all, their most prestigious patient.

 

[Wendy Carter]

I haven't been following the Venezuela shenanigans too much, but looks like the FBI have finally broken into the Venezuelan embassy in D.C. and apprehended pro-Maduro protesters who occupied it for more than a month.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/police-forcibly-remove-activists-living-in-the-venezuelan-embassy-in-washington/2019/05/16/80d464be-77cf-11e9-b3f5-5673edf2d127_story.html

Archive link

Police forcibly remove activists living in the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington





Activist David Paul is arrested Thursday after occupying the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post)
By Marissa J. Lang
May 16 at 11:23 AM
Four protesters who have been living inside the Venezuelan Embassy for more than a month were arrested by federal law enforcement officers Thursday morning and forcibly removed from the building.
The embassy in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood has for weeks been the site of a standoff between supporters of embattled President Nicolás Maduro and backers of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who has been recognized by the United States as interim president.
Carlos Vecchio, the Guaidó-appointed ambassador who has been recognized by the U.S. government, tweeted that the embassy had been liberated. Federal authorities and D.C. police arrived at the embassy this morning and entered the building, but haven’t commented today on the situation.
Code Pink organizers identified the four activists arrested as Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, Adrienne Pine and David Paul.

Several more Code Pink demonstrators have arrived. They’re upset and invoking the Vienna Convention, which activists have repeatedly quoted to say why US officials could not — or should not breach the embassy.

Meanwhile, police have just gotten a K-9 dog out to clear the area.pic.twitter.com/N4gUgcyWKL
— Marissa J. Lang (@Marissa_Jae) May 16, 2019

The Guaidó supporters outside have wanted the Maduro backers inside to leave the building. The confrontation between activists has become a proxy struggle for control over the South American country’s diplomatic mission.
Protests inside and outside the embassy continued nonstop for nearly three weeks, after leftist demonstrators from groups including Code Pink began living in the building April 10 at the invitation of Maduro government officials.
[‘It is noisy, but this is democracy’: Venezuelan Embassy’s D.C. neighbors are thrust into an intensifying standoff]
Since April 30, anti-Maduro protesters have patrolled the building’s entrances and exits, at times physically blocking attempts to enter or deliver supplies. Each side has accused the other of violence. Police have arrested at least 10 people, many of whom were charged in connection with “throwing missiles” — in many cases, a reference to food items launched past police barricades and the raised hands of Guaidó supporters.
Last week, protest organizers said Pepco shut off electricity to the building at the direction of Guaidó-appointed diplomats recognized by the U.S. government as the rightful emissaries of Venezuela. On Monday, officials posted a notice demanding that the occupiers vacate the embassy.
[Rev. Jesse Jackson delivers food to activists occupying Venezuelan Embassy in D.C.]
On Tuesday, police issued a warning to the activists via megaphone, saying that those inside must leave “immediately” and that “any person who refuses . . . will be trespassing in violation of federal and District of Columbia laws.”
The demonstrators — two women and two men — had remained inside until being removed Thursday morning
This story will be updated.

Gloomtube was streaming the event live. Starts at the very beginning and ends around 14 minutes in.

Edit: added archive link and article text.
Edit 2: Venezuela part is long past, will update with timestamps when stream ends. Updated timestamps.

 

[Cubanodun]

This is desperate and pathetic. Guaido proves in writing that he is no better than Maduro, who needs Russians to prop up his failing regime. And now Guaido wants US assistance? Nah. Pass on it, Donald. Don't make the same mistake Vladimir made and tie yourself to a loser who just wants your money. Pretend he's one of your ex wives and all should become clear.

The problem with Guaido is that he actually believed in the good of the people in the army, he overestimated his charisma and believed they were going to go in mass to his side just because he (and the USA) offered a amnesty if they remove the commie fucks , the problem is the army is full of useless assholes that prefer to burn this place to the ground instead of living a normal life because they noticed a little something

Law can pardon then, yes, PEOPLE WILL NOT

You've got sub-par extracting and refining operations that need heavy investment to modernize but the money just isn't there anymore.

And the manpower because almost everyone fucked off of PDVSA, is fucking awful when a manager gain minimum wage because muh egalitarian workplace and shit, Maduro still dont want to accept that Americans were the ones running all our oil infrastructure, we put manpower, they put the brains

There was another general who tell militairy to rise up against Maduro regime. I wonder if he feel then the SHTF more sooner then he thought?

Venezuelan general tells military to 'rise up' against Maduro regime

A Venezuelan general called on the country's armed forces on Sunday to rise up against President Nicolas Maduro, who has relied on the backing of the military to hold on to power despite an economic collapse.

www.cnbc.com

You will see several of them because they saw how Orange man pardoned the boss of the SEBIN (Maduro gestapo), so in the end they can choose between betraying Maduro and keep being rich assholes or keep being a nuisance and expect the inquisition

Sounds like even the Cubans cannot stomach the amount of political propagandizing they are forced to practice at the expense of ethical medical treatment.

Can you blame them? most of them came here to get away from the island and all their lunacy, then they come here and is the same shit that Cuba only that you dont have to get a boat to flee from this place

I haven't been following the Venezuela shenanigans too much, but looks like the FBI have finally broken into the Venezuelan embassy in D.C. and apprehended pro-Maduro protesters who occupied it for more than a month.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/police-forcibly-remove-activists-living-in-the-venezuelan-embassy-in-washington/2019/05/16/80d464be-77cf-11e9-b3f5-5673edf2d127_story.html

Archive link



Gloomtube currently has a livestream of the event.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=LQmgeDUguIA
Edit: added archive link and article text.

"Protesters" my ass, they are the paid shills of Maduro of Codepink, commies SJW fucks that dont deserve shit, they did not like their doses of Bolivarian revolution (aka they cut the water and power, kudos to the guy that thought that one) one was even so miserable that tried to stole a oil paint of Simon Bolivar but the police noticed immediately and had to return it, and im GLAD they were arrested, if they expect that Maduro is going to bail them, they are going to be heavy dissapointed in 20 years not even Chavez has won a trial in America

In other news:

For some reason that only ninjas know, Ivan Simonovis a political prisoner of Chavez that was almost 14 years in domiliciary arrest with enough security that make the secret service like childrens and a GPS thingy in his ankle managed to escape, how he did it no one knows, it was just like a 30 minutes of this post that Guaido told in a press conference that he actually gave him a pardon and the police of Maduro for some reason executed the order, someone is going to be very pissy today

Edit: Nevermind HE IS PISSED

Yesterday there were rumors about a possible new negotiation with Maduro in Norway and people took it the wrong way because every single negotiation with them has come to fuck nothing (search my posts here, i explained why), Guaido stated that it was a "approach" of the Norway government to be negotiators because the others were utter trash (Cuba and Zapatero a spanish commie fuck)

In minor news, the Chaviztas are sweating bullets for a declaration that orange man did that "Venezuela is close to a event of historic proportions"

Did not help that after that, Orange man ordered a total flight ban on us, it was so hilarious that the base that is near my house dusted off old Sukhois, repaired it in a frenzy and are now doing "exercises" when in reality they are scouting for the Marines

 

[Slap47]

While Scandinavian economies aren't exactly socialist, they aren't exactly capitalistic either. Compared to what you have in USA, they are definitely far more towards socialism than your capitalism is, or perhaps ever will be. They are very heavily regulated forms of capitalism, with very powerful leftist parties(we don't have anything else, even our most fiscally ultra-right parties are really far more to the left than your Democrats) and labor unions dictating the amount of regulation as they see fit. Basically all schools are public(even universities) and free of charge, almost all infrastructure is state-owned and public health service is almost free for all citizens. In my country, two large state-owned corporations own more than 90% of grocery stores. Strong alcohol is sold only in state-owned monopoly and gambling is also state-owned monopoly. You can call that capitalism, but it sure as hell isn't capitalism in the same sense USA has. And then there is of course the welfare aspect to all this, but I'm not in the mood to describe it right now.

Poor europeans get fucked.

They go to dogshit public schools and their tax dollars subsidize mediocre public universities that only the rich kids can access and they sometimes they even subsidize rich kids going to the USA for an education.

France and the Vikings have spectacular healthcare but they use that to boss the poor around and pass nanny state nonsense. The UK has a horrifyingly bad healthcare system because they don't fund it and still do the nanny state nonsense.

 

[Bum Driller]

Poor europeans get fucked.

They go to dogshit public schools and their tax dollars subsidize mediocre public universities that only the rich kids can access and they sometimes they even subsidize rich kids going to the USA for an education.

France and the Vikings have spectacular healthcare but they use that to boss the poor around and pass nanny state nonsense. The UK has a horrifyingly bad healthcare system because they don't fund it and still do the nanny state nonsense.

This isn't true, at least when it comes to Scandinavian countries. Our public school system is very good, which might be hard to swallow or understand if your understanding of what a public school is is based on what you have in the USA. This allows for very great social mobility upwards, as even the poor can easily go to study in higher education. The universities are mediocre, but only in the sense that our quality of research isn't admittedly as high as it's in the USA. However, even our poor can send their children to study in the USA, for example, because even studying abroad is subsidized out of the public funds. Very few people do, mainly because mostly your universities are seen to be only prestigious, without any actual difference, or difference towards negative, in the quality of teaching.

It's true that there is a strong undercurrent of nanny stateism going on, but it could be said that this isn't due to us having the public healthcare and education. Rather it could be said that such practices have grown out of the fundamental difference between the governing philosophies of European, and especially Scandinavian countries. While in the USA, the founding principles are based around the idea that everyone is free to make his destiny to the best of his ability, while in Scandinavia the central principle is rather that no-one is left behind. Very large percentage of people really believe that it's best to relegate certain duties to the state, which is inherently much more collectivist idea than what you have in the states.

All in all, while I'm personally not very big fan of this system, I can't say that our system wouldn't be without it's merits. If something, it's boring as fuck, as this kind of society really acts like a well-oiled clockwork, a machinery where individual aspirations or ideas matter quite little and where people can live their whole lives without facing any random disastrous events at all.

 

[Coleslaw]

This isn't true, at least when it comes to Scandinavian countries. Our public school system is very good, which might be hard to swallow or understand if your understanding of what a public school is is based on what you have in the USA. This allows for very great social mobility upwards, as even the poor can easily go to study in higher education. The universities are mediocre, but only in the sense that our quality of research isn't admittedly as high as it's in the USA. However, even our poor can send their children to study in the USA, for example, because even studying abroad is subsidized out of the public funds. Very few people do, mainly because mostly your universities are seen to be only prestigious, without any actual difference, or difference towards negative, in the quality of teaching.

It's true that there is a strong undercurrent of nanny stateism going on, but it could be said that this isn't due to us having the public healthcare and education. Rather it could be said that such practices have grown out of the fundamental difference between the governing philosophies of European, and especially Scandinavian countries. While in the USA, the founding principles are based around the idea that everyone is free to make his destiny to the best of his ability, while in Scandinavia the central principle is rather that no-one is left behind. Very large percentage of people really believe that it's best to relegate certain duties to the state, which is inherently much more collectivist idea than what you have in the states.

All in all, while I'm personally not very big fan of this system, I can't say that our system wouldn't be without it's merits. If something, it's boring as fuck, as this kind of society really acts like a well-oiled clockwork, a machinery where individual aspirations or ideas matter quite little and where people can live their whole lives without facing any random disastrous events at all.

It turns out when you have a lot of money and not many people you can afford to do that.