Venezuela Needs a Second Amendment - too late!

Sometimes, even the old media can see the obvious.  This picture is from a recent article in the Atlantic. From theatlantic.com:
The headline and subtext from the article using the picture above is this:

How Much Longer Can Venezuela Go on Like This?

Large numbers of citizens want to oust President Nicolas Maduro. But he commands the loyalty of many men with guns.

The fact the Venezuela has become another socialist distopian nightmare is obvious to any who care to look. Even a far-left writer from the Washington post can see it. It is hilarious how he admits that reality has a "Right wing" look to it.  From the Atlantic:

Toro: It’s really difficult to get across how badly governed the country is. If you just describe what happens, [you sound] like a shrill, far-right-wing lunatic who’s describing some kind of Fox News dystopia. But, it’s like that. [The government has] taken over virtually all of the large companies. [It has] taken over most of the mid-size manufacturing companies—everything that makes something you might want to consume. The few [it] hasn’t taken over, you’ve created this regulatory nightmare around them where you can’t do anything and nothing works. Nothing works. Businesses can’t produce. That sort of worked when oil prices were very high, because [under those conditions] who needs to make anything? You sell oil, you get money, and you buy stuff abroad. You just import your way out of the crisis. Oil prices fall and suddenly the basic lunacy of trying to run the country this way comes home very clearly.

People are hungry. The thing that’s been shocking [to] us here is the democratization of hunger and political insecurity. Even people who aren’t hungry are one mishap away from being hungry. When there is no food, people want a change.

The Atlantic, to its credit noticed this "But he commands the loyalty of many men with guns." I, and many others have written about how the Venezuelan socialists made private ownership of arms illegal.  Black market guns went up in value so much that police are routinely murdered there ... for their guns.  Those who were not convinced of the fundamental reason for such disarmament then may have a better understanding now.

Would Maduro still be in power if the 80% of the people who voted for a referendum to remove him were armed?  Even with single shot shotguns and .22 rifles? I doubt that it would have gotten this far. He is hanging on now because a tiny fraction of the population is protecting him with their government issued weapons.

And doesn't the "regulatory nightmare" that has been put in place in Venezuela sound terrifyingly similar to what Hillary wants for the United States?  We are well on the way there already.

The article reinforces the point still further:

Mahanta: One thing I’m curious about is, how does Maduro retain enough support going forward to hang on to power? Where is his genuine source of support at this point?

Toro: People with guns. That includes the military of course, which has been given enormous privileges during the last 18 years. [It has] been put in charge of mining businesses, been part of the oil industry, and smuggling, and cocaine, and a lot of other things.

The article mentions a large number of para-militaries who are in direct contact with and under a fair amount of control by the military.  It is common practice in distopia socialist systems like Venezuela for the government to arm its followers and use them to oppress everyone else.

Venezuela had a gun destruction a few months ago. It collected a lot of homemade pistols and single-shot shotguns.  The current government is propped up by thousands of Cuban "advisors" throughout the military and police that serve as informants with no skin in the Venzuelan game.

The fall of any socialist distopia is not pretty.  But the continued down-slide toward North Korean standards is downright ugly.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch