Venezuela Arrests Opposition Lawmaker, Allegedly Finds Weapons in Vehicle

[Dashinka 25,898]

Back to the real world.  The leaders of the socialist paradise of Venezuela are maintaining their grip on power.

 

 

Venezuela intelligence police arrested an opposition lawmaker Wednesday on charges of seeking to foment violence, prompting his political party to denounce a new wave of repression by the government.

Gilber Caro, a substitute legislator from Miranda state, was detained with his girlfriend on a roadside early Wednesday morning after officers found an assault rifle and explosives in his vehicle, Vice President Tareck El Aissami said. Appointed recently by President Nicolás Maduro to tackle the country’s rampant crime problem, Mr. El Aissami said the arrest was one of the first actions by an anticoup command unit he now leads.

“Lord knows what would have happened if we hadn’t detained and neutralized this threat,” the vice president said in a televised address.

 

Mr. Caro couldn’t be reached for comment, but his party, Popular Will, released a statement.

The lawmaker was returning from a family trip in western Venezuela when he was stopped and had weapons planted on him by authorities, Popular Will said. Two other party activists were arrested in recent months under similar circumstances, according to the party, which also accused the government of violating the immunity from arrest that is granted by law to parliament members like Mr. Caro.

 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuela-arrests-opposition-lawmaker-allegedly-finds-weapons-in-vehicle-1484190552

Edited January 22, 2017 by Bill & Katya

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

I hope Sean Penn is going to help out 

[ready4ONE 5,400]

I don't recall anyone who posts in this forum ever touting Venezuela as a paradise, but do carry on. Guess it's a nice distraction from the reality here at home that Donald Trump is either crazy or dishonest.

[Dashinka 25,898]

5 hours ago, ready4ONE said:

I don't recall anyone who posts in this forum ever touting Venezuela as a paradise, but do carry on. Guess it's a nice distraction from the reality here at home that Donald Trump is either crazy or dishonest.

Maybe no one here in CEHST as it is hard to defend a train wreck, but certainly there are prominent leaders of the left have described Venezuela as a socialist paradise.  Bernie Sanders comes to mind.  Also, I believe Elizabeth Warren has promoted the economics of Venezuela as compared to capitalism.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/06/07/venezuela-hugo-chavez-socialism-bernie-sanders-elections-2016-column/85294346/ 

Edited January 23, 2017 by Bill & Katya

[Dakine10 5,452]

32 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

Maybe no one here in CEHST as it is hard to defend a train wreck, but certainly there are prominent leaders of the left have described Venezuela as a socialist paradise.  Bernie Sanders comes to mind.  Also, I believe Elizabeth Warren has promoted the economics of Venezuela as compared to capitalism.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/06/07/venezuela-hugo-chavez-socialism-bernie-sanders-elections-2016-column/85294346/ 

   

     Not sure where they said that, but certainly not in the article you linked. Picking Venezuela as your example of a 'socialist paradise' is a little like saying Zimbabwe under Mugabe is the shining bastion of capitalism. There are better examples unless you are ignoring them by choice.

 

[Dashinka 25,898]

20 minutes ago, Dakine10 said:

   

     Not sure where they said that, but certainly not in the article you linked. Picking Venezuela as your example of a 'socialist paradise' is a little like saying Zimbabwe under Mugabe is the shining bastion of capitalism. There are better examples unless you are ignoring them by choice.

 

I found this essay he wrote a few years ago.  My first link was more to put it in the perspective of someone who lived through that wonderful paradise.  Anyway, here is the essay, you can Google the for more if you like.

 

"These days, the American dream is more apt to be realized in South America, in places such as Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina, where incomes are actually more equal today than they are in the land of Horatio Alger. Who's the banana republic now?"

 

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/must-read/close-the-gaps-disparities-that-threaten-america

[Dakine10 5,452]

3 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

I found this essay he wrote a few years ago.  My first link was more to put it in the perspective of someone who lived through that wonderful paradise.  Anyway, here is the essay, you can Google the for more if you like.

 

"These days, the American dream is more apt to be realized in South America, in places such as Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina, where incomes are actually more equal today than they are in the land of Horatio Alger. Who's the banana republic now?"

 

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/must-read/close-the-gaps-disparities-that-threaten-america

 

    In the context of income disparity and stagnation, I do see what he's saying. He's not saying in any way that those countries are paradises, nor is he saying those countries have found the American dream. He's saying we have lost it. 

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Donald Trump's Cabinet picks have a combined net worth equal to the bottom one third of all American's. That is a pretty clear sign that Trump has no intention of helping the little guy and except through use of alternative facts, impossible to claim isn't kind of a problem.

 

[Dashinka 25,898]

4 hours ago, Dakine10 said:

 

    In the context of income disparity and stagnation, I do see what he's saying. He's not saying in any way that those countries are paradises, nor is he saying those countries have found the American dream. He's saying we have lost it. 

I see a huge income disparity between the "Elite Leadership Haves" and the "people" they are leading in the socialist system of Venezuela.  It usually ends up this way in any system when the elite see what it would be like to be equal to the "people" (Soviet Bloc, DPRK, Cuba, etc.).  My wife reminds me almost every day how nasty it was to live in that type of society, I think I can do without it in my life. 

[ready4ONE 5,400]

3 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

I see a huge income disparity between the "Elite Leadership Haves" and the "people" they are leading in the socialist system of Venezuela.  It usually ends up this way in any system when the elite see what it would be like to be equal to the "people" (Soviet Bloc, DPRK, Cuba, etc.).  My wife reminds me almost every day how nasty it was to live in that type of society, I think I can do without it in my life. 

See also: Donald Trump; Trump Cabinet

[Dakine10 5,452]

12 hours ago, ready4ONE said:

Donald Trump's Cabinet picks have a combined net worth equal to the bottom one third of all American's. That is a pretty clear sign that Trump has no intention of helping the little guy and except through use of alternative facts, impossible to claim isn't kind of a problem.

 

 

   Exactly the kind of thing Sanders was talking about in his comparison.

[Dakine10 5,452]

11 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

I see a huge income disparity between the "Elite Leadership Haves" and the "people" they are leading in the socialist system of Venezuela.  It usually ends up this way in any system when the elite see what it would be like to be equal to the "people" (Soviet Bloc, DPRK, Cuba, etc.).  My wife reminds me almost every day how nasty it was to live in that type of society, I think I can do without it in my life. 

 

     I'm not sure why you always pick countries with oppressive regimes as examples of socialism. Perhaps it's the oppressive regime that's the problem. It also doesn't make sense to compare "third world" socialism to first world. Many of those countries had the same problems before they became socialist. 

 

   There are many social democracies around the world with standards of living that put the average American standard to shame. If you are actually interested in discussing how Sanders' style of socialism might work in America, those are the countries we should be looking at. 

[Dashinka 25,898]

3 hours ago, Dakine10 said:

 

     I'm not sure why you always pick countries with oppressive regimes as examples of socialism. Perhaps it's the oppressive regime that's the problem. It also doesn't make sense to compare "third world" socialism to first world. Many of those countries had the same problems before they became socialist. 

 

   There are many social democracies around the world with standards of living that put the average American standard to shame. If you are actually interested in discussing how Sanders' style of socialism might work in America, those are the countries we should be looking at. 

The countries I pick are at the end of the spectrum of complete socialism.  Yes, many of them had oppressive leadership at times, but not all the leadership was oppressive, but the effects of complete socialism can lead to economic oppression.  The countries that are socialist democratic also have a big mix of capitalism, which is something Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren rail against. 

[Dakine10 5,452]

2 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

The countries I pick are at the end of the spectrum of complete socialism.  Yes, many of them had oppressive leadership at times, but not all the leadership was oppressive, but the effects of complete socialism can lead to economic oppression.  The countries that are socialist democratic also have a big mix of capitalism, which is something Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren rail against. 

  I must have missed the part where Bernie Sanders planned to end capitalism.

[Dashinka 25,898]

9 hours ago, Dakine10 said:

  I must have missed the part where Bernie Sanders planned to end capitalism.

Based on his own words as an avowed socialist, he wants the government to own all the means of economic production.  Based on my knowledge of words, this is the polar opposite of capitalism.  Now he adds the term "democratic" to describe the fact that he still wants elections, but hey, Venezuela has elections too, and from what Katya tells me, they had elections in the Soviet Union as well.

 

'Sanders’ campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment. But we found many examples of Sanders describing himself as a democratic socialist, a specific type of socialist who wants public ownership of the means of production (which means the tools and money to make things) and a democratic political system.'

 

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2015/aug/26/bernie-sanders-socialist-or-democratic-socialist/