We’ll get you Down The Rabbit Hole shortly but first I have to share a juxtaposition moment. Crux Now reports that Salesian Missionaries tell them Venezuelans are losing hope. It’s not hard to figure out as we report a wide swath of stories regularly and almost all of them are bad news. Combine that with 87% of the population living in poverty and it’s easy to see how their outlook would be decidedly negative.

 However, on the other side of the coin,at least partially,we have a hopeful Op Ed piece in Caracas Chronicles. It looks at what will need to happen if Venezuela is to recover. Although they admit the odds aren’t good it’s like the old joke, “So you’re saying there’s a chance…” It’s titled “A Realistic Approach To Institutional Reform In Venezuela” and it goes like this….

 1/ Demilitarize – Venezuela was a militaristic society from it’s founding until 1958. After a few years of a primarily democratic society Chavismo,which was rooted in the military, took them back to the old days. Chavez, a former paratrooper, knew what all authoritarians know. If you want to hold on to power you must control the military. Also, he was schooled at the feet of Fidel Castro. Chavez got the military control well on it’s way and when he died Maduro took it to new heights. Today in Venezuela the military controls almost everything as bit by bit the Chavistas had to cede control to keep them happy.This being the case, most of them have participated in the pervasive corruption that plagues Venezuela today. They also note that in addition to wresting control from the military they will also need to depoliticize it. Good luck with that.

 2/ Reform The Justice System – Form a new, independent agency comprised of academics and fellow judges to reorganize the judiciary free from executive control.

 3/ Streamline Bureaucracy – Bloated bureaucracy has always been an issue but Chavismo increased it ten fold. It is exponentially worse than it’s ever been and things that take hours or days in the real world take weeks or months (sometimes years) under 21st Century Bolivarian Socialism.

 4/ Give Autonomy To Regions – Venezuela’s constitution says it’s a federation but state and local governments have very little control over governance. Everything goes through Caracas. ( Maybe that’s why the state of Monagas has been without a governor since last week when Maduro appointed their governor to the position of Education Minister, effective immediately. Almost nobody noticed.)

 5/ A Whole New Generation Of Unpolluted Leaders – This is a real tough one. Chavismo has poisoned so much of the country and almost 6 million people have fled the country. That 6 million people would have been a good source of “Unpolluted Leaders”. It’s hard to draw clean water from a poisoned well but hope springs eternal….(Unless you’re a Salesian missionary)

 Our next “tale” is something that could be reported almost daily as there is no shortage of political prisoners in “Socialist Paradise”. These stories come out,primarily, when they concern someone who is not a Venezuelan national and hence you have reporting by international media and not the state media puppets under the thumb of Chavismo, much like in the US where most of the media are woke, brainwashed lemmings who mindlessly cheer as our politicians strip away our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms…but I digress.

 McClatchy DC reports that political prisoner Matthew Heath hasn’t been able to have a lawyer visit in over two months.He has been held in a DGCIM (one of the secret police services) prison for over a year now without a trial. At the time of his arrest there was no mention of weapons charges but days later a report came out, complete with photos, of the weapons found when he was arrested by DGCIM. Only one problem…the weapons shown are too big to fit in the trunk of his car where they were supposedly found. He has been a victim of “white torture”, the kind that doesn’t leave visible marks, and his family fears for his safety(and for good reason). Now we are told that his case will be restarted on September 2nd due to missteps by prosecutors. Huh? isn’t that where the case is dismissed in the real world?

 Then we have Translating Cuba reporting that protests have been going on in Spain regarding Venezuela and Cuba. With the debacle in Afghanistan everyone has forgotten about the two Marxist hellholes in the Western Hemisphere.

 Shall we head Down The Rabbit Hole ?

….In the midst of all the chaos and upheaval combined with the confusion and lack of clarity over dialogue on the part of the opposition Maduro saw opportunity.The nullification of the National Assembly by the TSJ (the assembly still existed but any laws passed by them would be unconstitutional) wasn’t enough for Maduro. He called for the creation of a constituent assembly (referred to as the ANC). Snap elections were called and Maduro,the TSJ, and the CNE (electoral council) all confirmed the legitimacy of creating a parallel assembly despite the fact that according to the constitution,written by Chavez by the way, required a popular referendum.Maduro was skipping that part proving once again that the TSJ would rule that the constitution was whatever Maduro said it was.The ANC would consist of representatives from all electoral districts and their primary responsibility would be to rewrite the constitution although they would be all powerful and they could pass laws etc.

 The opposition refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the election process for the ANC ,as they should have, so the ANC was created almost exclusively Chavista. Now you had an assembly that was duly elected by the people but couldn’t actually pass laws (although they continued to do so). You also had a parallel assembly that was fraudulently created so according to the constitution they were powerless but Maduro,the TSJ, and the CNE all recognized them as the legitimate law making body for the country and besides they were going to rewrite the constitution anyway.

 The ANC almost immediately passed an anti-hate law and created a Commission Of Truth,Justice,and Peace to investigate violations of said law. The law and commission are about as believable as “The Peoples Democratic Republic Of ….” The United Nations and European Union never recognized the ANC and the UN declared that The Commission Of Truth,Justice,and Peace didn’t meet the minimum requirements of transparency and impartiality to conduct investigations.Oh, did I mention that the election of the ANC was boycotted by 70% of the electorate? Oh yeah,and FYI, now that Maduro has another fraudulent election under his belt and a new assembly (not recognized by anyone reputable either) he has unilaterally dissolved the ANC and to nobody’s surprise they never even debated writing a new constitution, the purpose for which the ANC was supposedly created.

 Summary : While it was evident that Hugo Chavez (much to the delight of socialists everywhere) had Venezuela’s democracy and economy headed for a cliff it was Nicolas Maduro who stepped on the gas and sent Venezuela’s democracy and economy hurting into the abyss. Why is it that those who say they’re protecting “the people” and “democracy” show the most blatant disregard for both? (The Democrats in the US are a perfect example)

 History is a series of conflicts and tipping points.If you want to find the tipping point for Venezuela’s transition from democracy to dictatorship you need look no further than the day the Chavistas had the key MPs for an opposition super majority in the National Assembly disqualified. From that point on an emboldened Maduro, backed by the TSJ,demonstrated blatant disregard for the Venezuelan constitution and the well being of the Venezuelan people. There have been contributing factors here and there but that was the day democracy died in Venezuela.