After my week long surgery-related hiatus it’s time to get back at it.We’ll continue with our next Venezuela : Down The Rabbit Hole segment, “The Real War” in a day or two but first we have some catching up to do. In case you’re wondering, the title “These Things Take Time” has nothing to do with my post op recovery (but thanks for asking). It relates to our first item.Here we go…

 The Inter-American Court on Human Rights (I didn’t even know there was one) has ruled that Venezuela violated the rights to life,personal integrity,freedom, and judicial guarantees and protections of Jimmy Guerrero who was shot by Falcon police in……. 2003. What! I know these things take time but geez,18 years later? Another good example of why I’m not a big fan of these multi-lateral organizations, courts, groups,associations, or whatever…UN, EU, ICC, et al. They take forever to get anything done. Slobodan Milosevic’s investigation/trial into human rights violations and crimes against humanity went on seemingly forever and he died in prison before a decision could be reached. Let’s see how they do with Nicolas Maduro. His, and his regime’s, case is still in the pre-investigation phase. You know, the investigation to see if they’re going to have an investigation. It’s the same pattern they all follow. They have a big meeting and the only outcome is they all agreed they need another meeting. Ugghh.

 And in a related article, the Venezuelan government has officially invited ICC Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan, to visit Venezuela to clear doubts on human rights violations. I guess the Chavistas need to get proactive in their defense now that the ICC Chief Prosecutor that was shielding Maduro is no longer there. One can only hope things move along better than UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michele Bachelet’s group has. After two years,mountains of evidence, and mountains of promises of cooperation from the Chavistas, they’re still hoping to open an office. I guess these things take time.

 Caracas Chronicles did a great piece on Chavismo’s accusations against opposition figure Freddy Guevara, you know…the usual…treason,terrorism,etc.I was reminded of Stalin’s head of his secret police, Lavrentiy Beria,who famously said show me the man I’ll show you the crime. These Marxist totalitarian regimes, and make no mistake about it Maduro’s regime in Venezuela is a Marxist totalitarian regime (albeit claiming a thin veneer of democracy) all follow the same play book. They always claim to have a treasure trove of evidence which will be revealed at the appropriate time. They show bits and pieces of inconsequential or fabricated “evidence” over time and meanwhile the accused subject languishes in prison. And yet we continue to give them a pass, credibility if you will.Why is that? They need to be called out (hopefully forced out).

 side note : During my recovery I started reading the latest from Mark Levin, American Marxism, and came across something very interesting that I’ve wondered about for quite some time. All these Democratic Socialists (Marxists) seem to gloss over this. Marx goes on and on about the utopian world that will “eventually” develop if Marxism is implemented. But first we must go through the process, part of that being the transition to a despotic police state and then on to the utopian paradise. The problem is always the same. Marx doesn’t tell us how to get beyond the despotic police state once established. (the Democratic Socialists will even deny they are establishing such a state as they are doing it) Cuba, China,The USSR, and of course Venezuela and others have all followed this pattern. We here in the USA must not do the same! (Do you really believe “this time will be different” or “that can’t happen here”?)

 Back to the news… The three human rights defenders arrested 18 days ago in Venezuela are still incommunicado as is Freddy Guevara although with Freddy it’s only a couple of weeks.

 In more Human Rights related news, ICC judges have dismissed Venezuela’s request for oversight of the Prosecutor General, you know,the new guy that’s replacing the former Prosecutor General that protected Maduro. Funny, when Bensouda (the protector) was in charge they didn’t request oversight. So what now? We’ll see, these things take time.

 Oh, but wait! We have more Human Rights related news. The numbers are in from Centro para los Defensores y la Justicia. In the first quarter of 2021 there have been  347 attacks against Human Rights defenders in Venezuela, up 234% from 2020. How does this square up with the Maduro regime’s invitation to the ICC Chief Prosecutor to visit Venezuela to clear doubts on Human Rights violations?

 We will do more catching up on the news from the insane world of “21st Century Bolivarian Socialism” tomorrow. I’ll leave you with this from Gerald R. Ford (some say David Crockett said it as well). “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” Ask a Venezuelan…