Truth v. fiction in Venezuela

Followers of independent alternative media know Venezuela is the hemisphere’s leading social democracy.

It’s not a “dictatorship” as falsely claimed by US hardliners and establishment media, reporting the official narrative exclusively, suppressing reality on the ground.

The NYT: “Venezuela’s government has overseen the destruction of its democracy and its economy…Today, it is nearly a failed state.”

“Public order is collapsing and crime rising…The government is aggressively consolidating power and undermining democratic institutions…Maduro won re-election in May in a vote that has been widely criticized within Venezuela and abroad as rigged.”

Hugo “Chavez waged war on Venezuelan institutions and civil society, hollowing out his country’s democracy…Maduro…rel[ies] on handouts” to preserve his power.

“Gangs…control…city streets.” Maduro follows “Chavez’s anti-establishment, strongman tendencies… [His rule] led to democracy’s implosion in the country.”

“Venezuela exhibits the worst-case outcome of populist governance, in which institutions have been so crippled that crime is rampant, corruption is nearly universal and the quality of life has collapsed.”

“Hunger has gripped the nation for years. Now, it’s killing children… [R]ecord numbers [suffer from] severe malnutrition. Hundreds have died.”

“Parents…go days without eating, shriveling to the weight of children…Crowds of adults storm dumpsters after restaurants close. Babies die because it is hard to find or afford infant formula, even in emergency rooms.”

The above rubbish was taken from several Times reports, similar ones from other establishment media—a scenario of bald-faced Big Lies and distortion.

A previous article discussed what UK photojournalist Alan Gignoux and Venezuelan journalist-filmmaker Carolina Gratero observed firsthand in the Bolivarian Republic.

“Nobody is dying from hunger or malnutrition,” they said. “Everyone is receiving help from the government.” The spirit of sharing pervades the country.

Reality is polar opposite the falsified Trump regime narrative, repeated ad nauseam by establishment media, drowning out hard truths.

Writer John McEvoy visited Venezuela. He arrived in Caracas on March 15 after living in neighboring Colombia for the previous six months, a nation greatly affected by serious humanitarian issues, he said—along with state-sponsored repression by narco-fascist ruling authorities.

“What I’ve found most striking [in Venezuela] is the absence of evidence [of a Western reported] crisis,” said McEvoy, adding, “Key signs of any ‘humanitarian crisis’—including homelessness and violence—actually seem to be less visible here than in some major European cities.”

“[E]veryday life in Caracas wouldn’t look out of place in any Latin American capital: people play football in public parks; weekends see street parties and dancing; children play in public spaces. This has been true of both central areas of the city and its poorer outskirts.”

“Though there is no visible shortage of food here [a manager of a private supermarket stopped me filming its abundance of food], much of it is unaffordable for those earning the minimum monthly wage.”

“Local Provisioning and Production Committees (CLAPs) supply over half of the Venezuelan population with packages of government-subsidized food and basic necessities, and many people engage in the informal economy to supplement their salary.”

Indeed hardships exist because of the Trump regime’s sanctions war over 80% of Venezuelans oppose.

A street vendor told McEvoy the following: “We’re doing what we can. Everyone’s doing what they can. But look around here. Nobody’s starving. It’s not like what they’re saying in your country [the US, other Western ones, and anti-Maduro regional states].”

Venezuelans “are largely coping.” Bolivarian governance is democratic, not dictatorial as falsely portrayed in the West.

“[N]ormalcy of daily Venezuelan life sits in starker and starker contrast with the extreme representations of the corporate media in the West. If London’s homeless people could see these streets, they’d be appalled that they’re being so shamefully ignored,” McEvoy explained.

Reality on the ground in Venezuela is a world apart from the fabricated Western narrative—all propaganda all the time, supporting the Trump regime’s coup plot.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.” Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.