We’ll get to our Down The Rabbit Hole segment in a few but first…BA Times tells us that supporters of Venezuela’s late leftist (Marxist) president, Hugo Chavez, packed the old military barracks housing his remains to pay tribute to him on the 10th anniversary of his death.

 One supporter said of Chavez, “He was the best…a wonderful leader of his people…You have to transmit the legacy to new generations”. This is the romanticized version of Chavez.

 The reality of his legacy is 7.1 million migrants (and counting) have fled 21st Century Bolivarian Socialism (the largest migration in the history of the Western Hemisphere), constant blackouts, lack of access to fresh water (before Chavez 80% of Venezuelans had regular access to fresh water), severe medicine shortages, a minimum wage under $6 A MONTH (it was over $200 a month before Chavez took power), a dramatic resurgence of previously eradicated diseases, and on and on. This is the true legacy of Hugo Chavez…Viva La Revolucion!

 Then we have Rio Times telling us that there were 105 attacks and security incidents against Human Rights defenders in Venezuela in January, according to NGO, Center for Defenders and Justice.

 This comes against the back-drop of the ICC (International Criminal Court) investigating Nicolas Maduro and the Chavistas for systematic Human Rights violations and possible crimes against humanity while the Maduro regime looks to advance legislation to increase government regulation and control of NGOs.

 I’ll say it again…Viva La Revolucion!

 And we have La Prensa Latina telling us that one of Venezuela’s major political parties, Primero Justicia (First Justice), has made it’s pick to represent them in the October 22nd primary to decide who will face off against current president (Dictator), Nicolas Maduro (5% approval rating at last report) in the 2024 presidential election (not officially scheduled yet?).

 …And the winner is…two-time presidential candidate, Henrique Capriles! This should be interesting. There are many people who believe Capriles won his last campaign against Maduro but Nico was declared the winner by CNE (electoral council) with basically no investigation into widespread allegations of voter fraud and violations by Chavismo.

 In typical Chavista fashion, since he was still a powerful political figure, the Chavistas had him declared “ineligible to hold public office” by CNE and TSJ (Venezuela Supreme Court). That status remains in effect so…Let the games begin!

 FYI, there are also a number of people who follow Venezuela politics that believe Capriles, these days, is not sufficiently anti- Chavismo.

 Note : You might think the ineligibility of Capriles would be discussed when the opposition and the Maduro regime resume talks in Mexico regarding a host of issues including holding free and fair elections. Don’t hold your breath. The Chavistas don’t want to discuss this, or absentee voting (7.1 million Venezuelan migrants aren’t likely to vote for Maduro and that number represents 20% of Venezuela’s population), and they already have an out. That would be their declaration that there would be no further talks until the previously agreed-upon UN-managed humanitarian fund is operational, which could take a long time.

 Then we have Mehr News, in the “more hype” category, telling us that pursuant to the strengthening of ties between Iran and Venezuela, Iran’s embassy in Caracas announced the “official launch” of a direct shipping line between the two countries to enhance trade.

 Uhh…is it just me or did they just make a big announcement that somebody drew a line on a map?…But I digress…

 The mission (I think that’s their embassy) said an IRISL (Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines) will leave Iran for Venezuela every three months. The article referred to statements by the Iranian ambassador to Venezuela from June 12, 2022 and November 15, 2022 listing all the things produced in Iran that can be sold in Venezuela (not mentioning that the market in Venezuela is limited primarily to Chavistas since the rest of the people have no money) and highlighting “Venezuela’s agricultural capacity” (not mentioning that “capacity” doesn’t mean production. As we’ve previously reported, Iran will grow it’s own food on Venezuelan land since Venezuelan agriculture has been destroyed by the Chavistas). So…was there really any news here?

 Now, let’s head Down The Rabbit Hole…

 Chapter 1 continued…

…As all this was happening another situation was developing. Many of the Cuban doctors used their participation in the Barrio Adentro program as an escape mechanism. They came to Venezuela from Cuba, where they earned very little, and found that due to the terms agreed-upon by the two governments they would earn even less. Can you say “indentured servitude”? Very quietly their ranks thinned (those without their family members remaining behind in Cuba as de facto hostages) as they would visit other South American countries and simply not return. What’s the big deal? When there’s 25,000 of ’em who cares if a few go missing? The sun is shining and it’s a beautiful day…

 THEN IT BEGAN TO RAIN!

 Shortly after the death of Hugo Chavez from cancer (it’s worth noting that he chose to have his cancer treated in Cuba, not Venezuela) the price of oil fell off a cliff, plummeting from well over $100 a barrel to under $30. When you receive 96% of your revenue from oil exports…THAT’S A PROBLEM!

 By this time even the extraordinarily constructed national oil company (once the envy of the entire oil-producing world) was falling victim to Chavista policies and production had fallen by roughly a million barrels a day. Again, when you receive 96% of your revenue fro oil exports…THAT’S A PROBLEM!

 In the first year and a half of Nicolas Maduro’s tenure the Chinese complied with his requests to borrow more money and loaned him another $10 billion. After 2015 they told him there would be no new money and all funds from Russia were arms and oil-related. Since none of their other allies really had any money there would be no more borrowing…THAT’S A PROBLEM!

 So now it’s raining cats and dogs, you’re under-funded and under-staffed, what do you do? Simple, deny there’s a problem and fire the Health Minister! They even had one Health Minister that only lasted a week! She was under the mistaken impression that she was actually supposed to do something. When she responded to the WHO’s (World Health Organization) request for a report on epidemiology she was immediately fired. The Chavistas had been denying the resurgence of all these previously eradicated diseases and she violated the ultimate edict of Chavismo, “Tell them nothing”.

 More tomorrow….