Venezuela Has Lost its' Democracy

The Will to Resist... has Gone?

Danza de los Esqueletos

Maduro Declares General Strike by Opposition a "FAIL"

Llego la Hora!

Atlas Shruggs

from the PanAm Post

Following the Venezuelan opposition’s announcement that there will be a strike held October 28, the government has threatened all companies that attempt to participate.

First Deputy Chairman of the Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Diosdado Cabello threatened all companies, saying that those that participate in the strike will be taken over by “the people.”

“Did they not call for a strike for Friday?” He said. “Now I’ll tell you something. Comrades of the armed forces, stand firm against companies that strike, companies that are being taken over by the workers and the people.”

Cabello said he spoke with President Nicolás Maduro, whose instructions are to stand firm against any company that strikes, as the armed forces “will not allow any disturbances.”

The warning was made after the opposition announced plans for a general strike Friday, October 28 as part of a demand that the government announce a date for the recall against President Maduro.

Maduro has thus far disregarded the demand, according to reports.

“I call on working class entrepreneurs to close ranks,” Maduro said, adding that he and the people have to defend “prosperity and life in Venezuela.”

Furthermore, the Federation of Chambers and Associations of Commerce and Production of Venezuela announced it is up to each and every company and its employees whether they want to join in on the strike.

“We respect, as it says in our constitution, the right of citizens to demonstrate peacefully,” the statement said. “It is up to each company, along with its employees, to join or not to join the 12 hours general strike called by the MUD for Friday, October 28.”

The text also calls for carrying out a political “frank and sincere” dialogue to ensure Venezuela sees progress and prosperity.

“The state must understand that maintaining and sharpening the political and institutional crisis only worsens the quality of life of Venezuelans,” the statement said. “The political and economic model adopted by the government has kept the country in a deep domestic production crisis.”

Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services of Caracas Victor Maldonado gave his support of all efforts made by the opposition — as long as they are peaceful — in order to restore democracy.

“There is no choice but to confront the dictatorship,” he said. “It is part of … the challenge of restoring democracy. I’m sure the streets are deserted because people will respond.”

“Join the support for the general strike as a formula of worker participation in the struggle for the rescue of democracy and the defense of labor rights,” said Coordinator of the National Workers Union Marcela Máspero.

She stressed that the massive attendance at the march Wednesday, October 26 showed that the Venezuelan people have the will to act against a regmine that has impoverished the working class.

Bienvenidos a Cubazuela!

from Hot Air

Whatever last vestige of democracy was left in Venezuela was wiped away Thursday when the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro suspended an effort to put a recall referendum to a vote. From the Associated Press:

With the latest actions, the government has effectively halted the effort to stage a recall effort that polls suggest Maduro would have lost by a wide margin. The ruling is particularly dramatic because it comes just days before critics of the socialist administration were to start gathering the one-fifth of voters’ signatures needed to place the issue on the ballot.

“This is a big deal and reveals that the government was fearful of what could happen in the three-day signature collection period. They have effectively postponed the recall referendum indefinitely. This measure makes it difficult to think of Venezuela as a democracy,” said David Smilde, a Venezuela expert at the Washington Office on Latin America…

The suspension of the recall came as a shock to many Venezuelans, who were gearing up for the chance to sign petitions next week seeking the embattled leader’s removal. To trigger a stay-or-go referendum, the opposition needed to collect and validate some 4 million signatures from 20 percent of the electorate in 24 states over three days next week.

The recall referendum itself is legal but the socialist government has been delaying the effort for months. The officials excuse for calling it off now is that fraud was involved in an earlier step of the process involving the gathering of signatures. That earlier step required the gathering of 200,000 signatures. The opposition turned in 1.8 million just to be sure.

Henrique Capriles, one of the leaders of the opposition, said on Twitter, “the Government pushes today to a very dangerous stage and increase of the crisis.” He also posted an image of an ominous legal document which orders that he and 7 other opposition leaders not leave the country. No reason was given for the order.

Venezuela has been suffering under triple-digit inflation which has made finding food, medicine and other basic goods a daily struggle for most Venezuelans. The country also has the second highest murder rate in the world. President Maduro is the successor to Hugo Chavez who died of cancer in 2013.

Maduro vs Media