Maduro Loses Grip on Venezuela’s Poor, a Vital Source of His Power

[Dashinka 23,207]

I thought socialist paradises such as Venezuela was supposed to be good for the poor.  Apparently not.

 

Maduro Loses Grip on Venezuela’s Poor, a Vital Source of His Power

By

David Luhnow | Photographs by

David Luhnow

The Wall Street Journal

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• BiographyDavid Luhnow
• @davidluhnow
• david.luhnow@wsj.com

Fabiola Ferrero for The Wall Street Journal

March 19, 2019 12:50 p.m. ET

 

LA VEGA, Venezuela—This nation’s slums have been the backbone of the leftist government for decades, and one of few remaining bulwarks for President Nicolás Maduro. They are now turning on the embattled leader—a shift born of economic misery and police violence that could cost him the country.

Support for Mr. Maduro among Venezuela’s poorest fifth of the population has gone from roughly 40% in early 2016 to 18% in February, according to Datanalisis, a respected pollster in Venezuela.

With the U.S. and other countries supporting opposition leader Juan Guaidó’s claim to the presidency, Mr. Maduro’s loss of support among even impoverished Venezuelans strips him of a crucial base, leaving him to rely on the loyalty of his armed forces and paramilitary groups.

The country’s ramshackle slums, known as barrios, hug the hillsides of every large city in Venezuela and make up roughly half the national population.

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“We’re hearing more cases of people who are targeted because they took part in protests,” said Liliana Ortega, the head of Cofavic. “It’s a form of social control to inhibit or discourage these areas from rising up.”

After Mr. Guaidó declared himself interim president, street vendor Jhonny Godoy celebrated outside his home in La Vega, a sprawling Caracas slum.

The 29-year-old evangelical Christian posted a video of himself waving a Venezuelan flag and shouting: “Who are we? Venezuelans. What do we want? Maduro gone!”

 

Two days later, on Jan. 25, masked police dragged Mr. Godoy from his house, his mother protesting, and took him to nearby alley. He was shot in the foot and stomach and had a diaper stuffed in his mouth, which neighbors interpreted as a message to other would-be rebels considering speaking out against Mr. Maduro.

“I heard lots of shots, and my son cry out ‘Jehova, Jehova,’” Cecilia Buitrago, Mr. Godoy’s mother, told Mr. Guaidó in a meeting shortly after the killing.

The corpse was returned to the family two days later, and Mr. Godoy’s mother remains in hiding.

“Symbolically, it is a huge blow to the government to lose the support of the barrios,” said John Polga-Hecimovich, a political-science professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. “In practical terms, it probably means more repression.”

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/maduro-loses-grip-on-venezuelas-poor-a-vital-source-of-his-power-11553014207?mod=hp_lead_pos10

[jg121783 3,907]

It's all because of the sanctions. Socialism has nothing to do with it. Now I know some European socialist countries are starting to fall apart also but there has to be some other reason that can be blamed on the US government. It couldn't be socialism causing the collapse.

[Boiler 43,397]

Probably the electricity cuts caused by the US.

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

I wonder if Godov's mother will sue the maker of the gun used to shoot her son?

[TBoneTX 43,020]

18 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

the loyalty of his armed forces and paramilitary groups

These gangs routinely threaten, harass, oppress, and terrorize Maduro's opponents, who are called "squalids."

 

Most of these "squalids" are middle-class and professional people.  Those who have tourist visas and come to the U.S. and apply for asylum are, more often than not, granted that status.  Starkly unlike the uneducated Central Americans, the Squalids have plans to hit the ground running to start productive new lives here.

 

When regime-change finally does occur down there, I predict a bloodbath of retribution by the Squalids that will have rarely been seen in human history.

[Boiler 43,397]

Hmm well they are going to have to go some to make the top 10.

[TBoneTX 43,020]

Acknowledged, if we lump in massacres of all sorts.  Was talking pure regime-change retribution here.