A warning

Why you should care about statues coming down. Sound advice from a Venezuelan who lived through a socialist revolution. pic.twitter.com/GCTgIcrryd

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) June 23, 2020

al-Qaeda members captured entering U.S. from Venezuela

Steve Balestrieri reports in SOFREP,

Three members of the al-Qaeda terrorist group were stopped and apprehended trying to fly into Dallas while using passports from Colombia. The three entered Colombia via Venezuela.

The three al-Qaeda members who are from Syria, entered Colombia in La Guajira, in northeast Colombia. The three men were able to obtain actual passports as they had documentation experts located in the country. The RCN channel was the first to break the story.

The three Syrian citizens were able to obtain a civil registry, identity card, and passport in a network detected by the Registry and already investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office. The identities of the arrested terrorists have been released.

Read more here.

The way it progresses

Venezuela leads the way

From the Babylon Bee: NEW YORK, NY—In an interview on Meet the Press Sunday, Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez scolded American leaders for not setting the minimum wage as high as Venezuela, whose hyper-inflated currency is forcing minimum wage increases all year long.

Ocasio-Cortez then pointed out that if we would just raise the minimum wage to somewhere in the millions as the socialist South American country did, everyone would be a millionaire.

“Venezuela's minimum wage is, like, millions per month, and ours isn’t even close to that,” she said. “Our minimum wage is, like, seven bucks or something. We call ourselves a developed country, but we don’t even just like print nearly as much money as Venezuela and give it out for free, because of businesses and corporations and things like that.”

She also called Venezuela’s leaders “really smart” for overloading the economy with more currency, and called on America’s leadership to do the same. “It just goes to show that socialism is better because you can inflate the currency to a lot more, and more is better than less, obviously.”

“It’s just common sense, and you know, like, human rights and stuff,” she added.

Today, in Venezuela

via Bookworm

History repeating itself

via PowerLine

How did Socialism work out in Cuba and Venezuela?

Glenn Reynolds writes about it here.

Why we have the Second Amendment

JJ Sefton's Morning Report leads with,

The Venezuela crisis tops all news for this first day of May. President Trump and his administration, most notably Secretary of State Pompeo and National Security Adviser Bolton, are throwing unequivocal support behind opposition leader Juan Guaido and are renewing the call for Nicolas Maduro to leave. According to Pompeo, the corrupt commie was all set to jet off to Cuba when Vladimir Putin reportedly told him to stay put. Obviously, this is 100% proof positive that Trump is colluding with Russia, right Schiff-for-Brains? In any case, thousands are taking to the streets to protest the regime, which has caused the latter to violently crackdown. Yesterday saw what is being described as a "Tiananmen Square moment" where protestors have been run over by government vehicles. Funny how Bernardo Sandersnista and Chiquita Kruschev are strangely silent about that.

We've got links covering the news as of late last night as well as a rather topical piece in the Second Amendment section where people bemoan the government's confiscation of citizen-owned firearms 10 years ago. For those not aware, it was the first thing Hitler and Stalin, and many others of their ilk, did the moment they seized power, and it's what their fellow travelers in the Democrat-Socialist Party are itching to do. Remember, the only thing gun control controls is the people. As for Venezuela, despite some defections, the military is still backing the regime and Maduro is also tripling the size of some sort of civilian militia, arming them to the teeth, ironically with much of the weaponry seized from the civilian population. Circling back, we all know that Maduro must go. The only thing up for debate is how to go about excising that cancer. Aside from the immiseration of his own people, the Venezuelan regime is a destabilizing element in the entire hemisphere and their extremely close alliance with Iran, as well as its proxies in Hezbollah, cannot be allowed to continue for obvious national security reasons. Does that mean I support invading Venezuela with US troops? No. But a ramping up of all pressure short of direct open armed intervention is required, IMHO. The situation is still fluid, so stay tuned for more updates as and when they happen.

Go here to read more and follow his links.

How did Socialists light their homes before candles?

Answer: electricity! Andy Puzder takes a look at Venezuela in an opinion piece for Fox News.

Venezuela

KGB chess in Venezuela?

Austin Bay discusses in Instapundit.

Trump's courage on display once again: this time it's about Venezuela

Oil production in Venezuela has come to an almost complete halt

Ace reports that oil production in Venezuela, which has the world's largest reserves, has come to an almost complete halt.

Meanwhile, Russia has taken over five Venezuelan oil fields for the fire-sale price of $1.5 billion in bailout money.

Read more here.

"Undiplomatic"

In CNSNEWS, Patrick Goodenough reports,

Two Russian strategic bombers, which held joint exercises with Venezuelan fighter jets over the Caribbean Sea this week, will end their visit on Friday, according to the White House.

The arrival of the nuclear-capable Tupolev Tu-160 bombers – the third visit of its kind to Venezuela in a decade – sparked terse exchanges, as officials in Washington, Moscow and Caracas criticized each other’s spending priorities.

On Twitter, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo commented, “Russia’s government has sent bombers halfway around the world to Venezuela.”

“The Russian and Venezuelan people should see this for what it is: two corrupt governments squandering public funds, and squelching liberty and freedom while their people suffer.”

Pompeo’s comment drew a strong reaction in Moscow, where Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it undiplomatic and inappropriate.

Read more here.

Leftist caravan leaves America for Venezuela

From the Babylon Bee:

MEXICO—A migrant caravan full of leftists desiring to enter the socialist paradise of Venezuela departed the United States Thursday and began marching toward Venezuela through Mexico, stating they will demand asylum so they might experience the far better life that socialism offers.

The migrants claim they are leaving America because of its high standards of living, strong economy, and record employment numbers, and hope to find a better life in Venezuela's much more equitable system.

"Everyone there has the same quantity of possessions and food," said one marcher. "Everyone makes millions of dollars, and very few people work. It's a real paradise." The refugees have complex motivations, but the vast majority simply want to see everything socialism has to offer after suffering the amazing benefits of capitalism for too long.

Caravan organizers dispelled rumors that they were funded by Bernie Sanders, claiming the caravan was an organic grassroots movement.

At its current pace, the caravan is expected to arrive just in time for Venezuela to run out of food entirely.

When Leftism takes over

Axios reports,

Faced with hyperinflation, crippling food and medicine shortages, limited electricity and an oppressive dictatorship, around 5,000 Venezuelans a day are fleeing to surrounding countries.

Read more here.

Venezuela’s man-made disaster

At Da Tech Guy Blog, Fausta Rodriguez Wertz tells us about the latest migrant crisis.

Anthony Faiola reports that Venezuela’s economy is so bad, parents are leaving their children at orphanages in the hope that the children won’t starve.

The latest WSJ headline: Venezuela’s Misery Fuels Migration on Epic Scale

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans are fleeing their country’s misery and pouring across borders into nearby countries, particularly Colombia, creating a sharpening challenge for the region.

Juan Forero reports, “Residents flee crumbling economy in numbers that echo Syrians to Europe, Rohingya to Bangladesh,” since

By the end of this year, Venezuela’s economy will be half the size it was in 2013, according to the International Monetary Fund. Inflation is expected to hit 13,000% this year.

Read more here, where there are some links to some amazing stories.

The revolution is over in Venezuela

Joel Hirst writes,

Tomorrow Venezuela will finally succumb to her self-inflicted wounds. Tomorrow she will die. She will be mourned, by those of us who have loved her – who have known her, before the folly set in. “How did this happen?” many will write, and are already asking “What happens next?” Futile questions – because what happens next is nothing. For the unwilling inhabitants of Venezuela, nothing will ever happen again. The same speeches; the same propaganda; the same food lines; the same medicine shortages; the people growing thinner and shorter generation by generation while the rulers become corpulent and obese. The same faces aging ungracefully, the hideous masters of ceremony becoming old and foul, presiding eternally over festivities that have never been festive – not for the people. A zombie apocalypse of red and rage and carnage that has burned itself out but that nevertheless keeps going. Not purpose or momentum, only persistence.

The revolution is over – and they won, those who built with expert precision an edifice of hate and stupidity could not have lost. Because what we have, freedom and prosperity and love is a delicate flower that is easily squashed under ancient prejudices and humanity’s legendary tolerance for injustice. A single tender fir tree does not withstand an avalanche, no matter how courageous she is. Oh, to be sure they won’t tell you that the revolution is over – those who used the mayhem to seize power. They need it – and they will keep up the pantomime; they will pretend that there is still something they are fighting for, and against. But they know it’s over – as do the enslaved – as do we all.

Read more here.

Venezuela

Bending...

Joel D, Hirsch writes a moving post about the return home of Leopoldo Lopez.

...history shows that when a regime is forced to bend, even if only a little, it opens a tiny crack in the dam; ruining the structural integrity of the construction forever. Venezuela’s edifice of hate and violence and stupidity has been breached, and is coming to an end – they have known this for a long time; but only with Leopoldo’s release have they shown the world.

So, for now we rejoice with the Lopez family not only for the return of Venezuela’s favorite son home, but more importantly for what it means to a nation struggling to be free.

Read more here.