If you remember, as Duglimar said,”In Venezuela people go to the hospital to die.” That’s why I had to put off hernia surgery for two years until I could get the hell outta’ there. Well,now I have no excuse to not get it taken care of. I’m telling you this because after this morning’s post I’ll be out of commission for a few days,but never fear. I will return to action next Monday with our next Venezuela : Down The Rabbit Hole segment titled “The Real War” as well as what I’m sure will be a full slate of current (within the last week) news from the hell hole, oops…excuse me,the socialist paradise, that is Venezuela. But before I go…..

 In the interest of fair play the Chavistas have arrested a politician that is not opposition.Caracas Chronicles reports that Deputy (representative) Jesus Superlano ,a Chavista,was arrested after complaining about the treatment of candidates by the CNE (electoral board). It shows they will go after their own if the party line is not adhered to (meaning they piss off Maduro). This is exposing a divide between some Chavistas and the Maduro regime.

 Getting back to their standard repression,Freddy Guevara has been charged with financing terrorism as well as other charges.

 Also in their more run of the mill harassment/repression, Draima Guillen, coordinator for opposition party Voluntad Popular was detained for unspecified reasons.

 And in the “call it what it is” category, EFE reports Maduro’s communal cities plan is just an attempt to eliminate the authorities of mayors and governors.

 In Cota 905 news Monitor de Victimas reports that of the 33 deaths reported so far in the clash between gangs and government in the Cota 905 area only 4 were criminals.

 And in more gangs/government news Reuters reports that the government seems to be losing control of both border areas and sectors of Caracas. They attribute the root cause of the problems to the government’s ill fated 2017 agreement with gangs to allow them to operate without police in certain sectors. Oh, and FYI over 300 gang members participated in the shoot out at the Cota 905.

 Last but not least, Iran Wire reports strengthening ties (to no one’s surprise) between Venezuela – Iran, and Hezbollah. We’ve known for years about the terrorist training camps and money laundering centers,including Margarita Island, the duty free tourist destination, but it’s growing. Under Chavez there were limits to what he would allow but with Maduro the gloves are off and it’s no holds barred.

 Have a great week everybody and see you next Monday!