'Venezuela could be the next Syria or South Sudan'

[Costa Fierro]

Yes. A chocolate muffin could run Venezuela better than the PSUV can.

So you think nazis should run Venezuela over the PSUV? Wow ... Just wow ...

And of all the major parties in Venezuela we have the following:

• Four overtly left wing political parties.
• Nine centrist or centre-left political parties.
• One centre or centre right political party promoting Christian democracy
• One libertarian party.

I don't see any Nazis there. Maybe that's because there aren't any Nazis in Venezuela.

[Ardoki]

So you think nazis should run Venezuela over the PSUV? Wow ... Just wow ...

And of all the major parties in Venezuela we have the following:

• Four overtly left wing political parties.
• Nine centrist or centre-left political parties.
• One centre or centre right political party promoting Christian democracy
• One libertarian party.

I don't see any Nazis there. Maybe that's because there aren't any Nazis in Venezuela.

You claimed a 'chocolate muffin could run Venezuela better than the PSUV'. While the nazis were horrendous, they could run a country better than a chocolate muffin (mainly because a chocolate muffin is incapable of running a country). So, you are basically saying you think the PSUV is significantly worse than the nazis and you would rather the nazis be in power in Venezuela.

[Costa Fierro]

You claimed a 'chocolate muffin could run Venezuela better than the PSUV'.

I did because I thought it would be something humourous to say.

So, you are basically saying you think the PSUV is significantly worse than the nazis and you would rather the nazis be in power in Venezuela.

There aren't any Nazis in Venezuela. How can they run a country if they don't exist in that country?

[Frank Zipper]

So does Maduro try to look like Saddam Hussein, or is it just a happy accident?

[Nerovia]

Well, the protests are reaching day 50.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/21/americas/ ... -protests/

It feels like Venezuela could sink into a civil war. But we'll just have to wait see what happens next.

[Thermodolia]

Well, the protests are reaching day 50.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/21/americas/ ... -protests/

It feels like Venezuela could sink into a civil war. But we'll just have to wait see what happens next.

Freedomize Venezuela anyone?

[Uxupox]

Well, the protests are reaching day 50.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/21/americas/ ... -protests/

It feels like Venezuela could sink into a civil war. But we'll just have to wait see what happens next.

Freedomize Venezuela anyone?

my wish for tropical beaches has come true. be ready by next Tuesday.

[Gig em Aggies]

Freedomize Venezuela anyone?

my wish for tropical beaches has come true. be ready by next Tuesday.

well once we clear all the landmines, barbed wire, and bombs then yeah wish granted

[Uxupox]

my wish for tropical beaches has come true. be ready by next Tuesday.

well once we clear all the landmines, barbed wire, and bombs then yeah wish granted

No need for ground forces. Just need little Curtis for this.

[Sanctissima]

Well, the protests are reaching day 50.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/21/americas/ ... -protests/

It feels like Venezuela could sink into a civil war. But we'll just have to wait see what happens next.

Truth be told, I doubt there will be a civil war.

Maduro is quite firmly in control of the Venezuelan military, so it's unlikely there would be a situation similar to that of Syria, where initially a large chunk of the Syrian army rebelled against Assad.

Unless there's external involvement, any open revolt or rebellion would probably be quickly dealt with.

Maybe the US will get involved though. Venezuela's got some pretty massive oil reserves.

[Mad hatters in jeans]

So at the moment the poll stands at 71% of users are confident they know what the situation is like in Venezuela and the majority of them think a civil war is about to break out.

I find that interesting because most of the comments here suggest only a small knowledge of the situation, or perhaps users are simply extremely frugal with what they want to say on the topic. Many people seem to think political ideology is the deciding factor here.

However it seems like Venezuela has had a breakdown with a large part of it's economy focused too much on one source, that being Oil.
Combine this with and extremely high score on the corruptions perceptions index (ranking at 166 out of 176 nations in 2016 and this score not changing much in the past few years) and you have a recipe for instability if not disaster of an economic making.

This fairly basic economic chart (annual variation of real GDP according to the Central Bank of Venezuela (2016 preliminary)) shows what happened after Maduro took control in early 2013. While it would be disingenuous to say Chavez was a master of their economy (of note is the spending of their gold in 2011, when the UK returned it) it was at least holding somewhat stable by the year of his death in 2013.

Perhaps this was also affected by the oil Glut in 2014-17. Along with different forms of power taking precedence such as Solar and the Paris Climate change agreement.
Also TIL Venezuela is one of the founding members of OPEC.

I don't know if that's enough for a civil war but it's certainly enough for an unhappy population, and the recent news has shown us of the scale of the protests numbering in the millions. (2.5 million in Caracas and 6 million across the country, estimated on 19th of April) For a country of about 31.7 million, that's a pretty large number of protesters. Although this number is probably inflated there are a number of pictures of the protest walks stretching for miles on the major roadways and motorways around this time.

Long story short, this country has a problem with oil in the same way long term drug users have problems with their drugs. When the oil prices dip the country suffers.
It's nice to think that people are protesting due to corruption, but I think the corruption is simply a side effect of a rather unreliable economy and high inflation rates.

As for Civil war, i'm not sure.

[Liriena]

Nice, in trying to be sarcastic you actually described the status pretty accurately.

Keep railing about how Socialism is a failure when your examples don't even hit the first point of Socialism: democratic control of the company by the workers.

So the definition of Socialism changes whenever something goes wrong?

Amaze.

Workers owning the means of production has been a core tenet of socialism since Marx, if not even before him.

If you can't say something smart, Balk, then just sit quiet and look pretty, please. ;3

[Liriena]

So at the moment the poll stands at 71% of users are confident they know what the situation is like in Venezuela and the majority of them think a civil war is about to break out.

I find that interesting because most of the comments here suggest only a small knowledge of the situation, or perhaps users are simply extremely frugal with what they want to say on the topic. Many people seem to think political ideology is the deciding factor here.

However it seems like Venezuela has had a breakdown with a large part of it's economy focused too much on one source, that being Oil.
Combine this with and extremely high score on the corruptions perceptions index (ranking at 166 out of 176 nations in 2016 and this score not changing much in the past few years) and you have a recipe for instability if not disaster of an economic making.

This fairly basic economic chart (annual variation of real GDP according to the Central Bank of Venezuela (2016 preliminary)) shows what happened after Maduro took control in early 2013. While it would be disingenuous to say Chavez was a master of their economy (of note is the spending of their gold in 2011, when the UK returned it) it was at least holding somewhat stable by the year of his death in 2013.

Perhaps this was also affected by the oil Glut in 2014-17. Along with different forms of power taking precedence such as Solar and the Paris Climate change agreement.
Also TIL Venezuela is one of the founding members of OPEC.

I don't know if that's enough for a civil war but it's certainly enough for an unhappy population, and the recent news has shown us of the scale of the protests numbering in the millions. (2.5 million in Caracas and 6 million across the country, estimated on 19th of April) For a country of about 31.7 million, that's a pretty large number of protesters. Although this number is probably inflated there are a number of pictures of the protest walks stretching for miles on the major roadways and motorways around this time.

Long story short, this country has a problem with oil in the same way long term drug users have problems with their drugs. When the oil prices dip the country suffers.
It's nice to think that people are protesting due to corruption, but I think the corruption is simply a side effect of a rather unreliable economy and high inflation rates.

As for Civil war, i'm not sure.

I'm 90% confident that it won't end in a civil war.

[Liriena]

Well, the protests are reaching day 50.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/21/americas/ ... -protests/

It feels like Venezuela could sink into a civil war. But we'll just have to wait see what happens next.

Truth be told, I doubt there will be a civil war.

Maduro is quite firmly in control of the Venezuelan military, so it's unlikely there would be a situation similar to that of Syria, where initially a large chunk of the Syrian army rebelled against Assad.

Unless there's external involvement, any open revolt or rebellion would probably be quickly dealt with.

Maybe the US will get involved though. Venezuela's got some pretty massive oil reserves.

Unless Trump turns out to be an even bigger belligerent idiot than he appears at this moment, I doubt it.

[Nakena]

Maybe the US will get involved though. Venezuela's got some pretty massive oil reserves.

Unlikely. The US has by now a fairly well doing own oil-fracking industry. Theres no "reason" anymore for messing around in oil rich foreign Countries as it has been in the 1990s and 2000s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_St ... ical_trend

[MERIZoC]

You claimed a 'chocolate muffin could run Venezuela better than the PSUV'.

I did because I thought it would be something humourous to say.

So, you are basically saying you think the PSUV is significantly worse than the nazis and you would rather the nazis be in power in Venezuela.

There aren't any Nazis in Venezuela. How can they run a country if they don't exist in that country?

tbh venezuela is probably in such a bad state that there aren't any chocolate muffins in the country either

[MERIZoC]

https://venezuelanalysis.com

Here's a good website for y'all. Its left wing, but pretty balanced, and isnt just propaganda like most of the media coming from both sides of the issue, like say, Telesur, or the American corporate media

[Costa Fierro]

I did because I thought it would be something humourous to say.



There aren't any Nazis in Venezuela. How can they run a country if they don't exist in that country?

tbh venezuela is probably in such a bad state that there aren't any chocolate muffins in the country either

Probably not.

[Greater Miami Shores]

"At least 43 people have died during weeks of clashes between government forces and opposition demonstrators angry at President Nicolas Maduro's handling of an economic and political crisis.

"This isn't getting better, it's getting worse, and what we are trying to say is the international community needs to say 'respect the human rights of your people' or this is going to go in the direction we've seen so many others go," US Ambassador Nikki Haley told reporters following Security Council talks.

The United States requested the closed-door consultations on Venezuela despite objections from some council members who insisted the crisis was not a threat to international security.

Haley said the US decision to raise Venezuela at the Security Council was aimed at conflict prevention and to ensure that the top UN body was paying attention to the crisis".

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017 ... ther-syria

As if we haven't got enough to worry about, now a civil war could break out in South America, not far from the United States. If one does break out in a country with as much oil as Venezuela does, it could not only severely damage the global economy and bring the continent to it's knees, but it could create another refugee situation not far from the United States.

What do you think, NSG? Is a civil war in Venezuela likely?

We are not dealing with a government. We are dealing with the Bolivarian Revolution for Life, just like in Cuba. The opposition is not dealing with a government. The opposition is dealing with the Bolivarian Revolution for life. Like the Cuban government revolution. That is the problem in Venezuela.

[Kramania]

Most likely it will be. A product of socialism in action.

[Greater Miami Shores]

Most likely it will be. A product of socialism in action.

and a divided military. one that fires on the people protesting. one that refuses to fire on the people protesting. let's hope it reaches that point.

[Greed and Death]

"At least 43 people have died during weeks of clashes between government forces and opposition demonstrators angry at President Nicolas Maduro's handling of an economic and political crisis.

"This isn't getting better, it's getting worse, and what we are trying to say is the international community needs to say 'respect the human rights of your people' or this is going to go in the direction we've seen so many others go," US Ambassador Nikki Haley told reporters following Security Council talks.

The United States requested the closed-door consultations on Venezuela despite objections from some council members who insisted the crisis was not a threat to international security.

Haley said the US decision to raise Venezuela at the Security Council was aimed at conflict prevention and to ensure that the top UN body was paying attention to the crisis".

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017 ... ther-syria

As if we haven't got enough to worry about, now a civil war could break out in South America, not far from the United States. If one does break out in a country with as much oil as Venezuela does, it could not only severely damage the global economy and bring the continent to it's knees, but it could create another refugee situation not far from the United States.

What do you think, NSG? Is a civil war in Venezuela likely?

Not likely they are far enough away from any other major power that no one will object to US stabilizing them.

[MERIZoC]

Most likely it will be. A product of socialism in action.

and a divided military. one that fires on the people protesting. one that refuses to fire on the people protesting. let's hope it reaches that point.

Reactionaries are lovely.

[Seraven]

Socialism not even once.

Maduro is worse than Chavez.

[Seraven]

Truth be told, I doubt there will be a civil war.

Maduro is quite firmly in control of the Venezuelan military, so it's unlikely there would be a situation similar to that of Syria, where initially a large chunk of the Syrian army rebelled against Assad.

Unless there's external involvement, any open revolt or rebellion would probably be quickly dealt with.

Maybe the US will get involved though. Venezuela's got some pretty massive oil reserves.

Unless Trump turns out to be an even bigger belligerent idiot than he appears at this moment, I doubt it.

Is it possible for China/Russia to sent in their own military, albeit however relatively small of them, into Venezuela, to replaced the leadeR?