We’ll go Down The Rabbit Hole in a sec but first…Daily Mail reports that Venezuela’s main opposition coalition, Unitary Platform, has agreed to unite behind former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez as it’s challenger to President (dictator) Nicolas Maduro in this summer’s election.

 The group needed to replace it’s first candidate, Maria Corina Machado, who won the primary with 93% of the vote, when the Maduro regime disqualified her and then didn’t allow her endorsed replacement, Corina Yoris, to register as a candidate. So, now we’re down to choice number three.

 The election is likely to have more than 10 candidates but only the Unitary Platform candidate is expected to pose a threat to Maduro’s power base.

 Then we have Yahoo News reporting that Oscar Alejandro Perez, a popular Venezuelan YouTuber, who uploads travel videos, was arrested on terrorism charges.

 He uploaded a video in 2023 pointing to the Credicard Tower in Caracas, a building that holds the servers that facilitate the country’s financial transactions, and jokingly added “If a bomb were to be thrown in that building the whole national banking system would collapse”.

 OK, probably not a wise move in Nicolas Maduro’s Venezuela but his arrest is the latest evidence of Maduro’s growing crackdown on Human Rights and civil liberties as the country prepares for presidential elections in July.

 Venezuela has become a deeply authoritarian criminal state that shuts down dissent, forces millions of it’s citizens to flee (8 million at last count), and kills or abducts whoever threatens the regime.

 In many ways, Maduro’s political repression reflects his growing fear that his regime’s days are numbered, driving him to desperate measures to force a different fate. Once a dictator takes hold, it becomes very difficult to dislodge them. (From “The Conversation”)

 Now, lets head Down The Rabbit Hole…

 Chapter 7/ continued…

 …And the Hugo Chavez Plant, which hasn’t produced a single grain of local rice, was just the tip of the iceberg. CAMC was paid over $3 billon for projects that were never completed.As with all Chavismo- related frauds, this is one piece of a complex puzzle. PDVSA Agricola, a new unit developed by Chavez to boost agricultural production,  handled the contracts. The money went from the China Development Bank to Venezuela’s development bank and was doled out from there. Remember, 60% of government spending goes through Fonden, which isn’t subject to oversight, so the forensic accountants have their work cut out for them. So far, $32 billion has been tracked plus another $6 billion from an infrastructure fund created by Chavez. The ongoing investigation has already revealed dozens of people with millions of dollars going to each of them. In one of the interviews it was said “These guys were carrying around briefcases full of contracts”. It’s worth noting that Venezuela’s state-run media has yet to report on any of this.

 In another example of the complete disdain “The Revolution” actually has for the people, as of this writing (2019), we are currently in the second week of a hunger strike by former PDVSA workers. They are protesting the government’s lack of response to their requests for money they were promised by Hugo Chavez so this goes way back (Maduro took power in 2013). Funny thing is, the money he promised them was put in an account that was supposed to pay them in dollars. The government is using outdated exchange rates from the time of the agreement and is doling out a meager amount to them in bolivares so it’s a win/win for Maduro. He’s fulfilling a promise made by Chavez (technically) and with the favorable rates he’s using paying out almost nothing. It’s somewhat of a double whammy for the workers. They’re on a hunger strike while their families and those around them are starving!

 Surely with a situation as serious as a starving population the government must be taking some steps to address hunger. Well, yes and no. Here are a couple of recommendations from the government… One is their urban farming initiative. Residents in cities should grow their own fruits and vegetables on roof-top gardens and balconies. I’m sure that will more than make up for the lost production from 3 and 1/3 million hectares of expropriated farmland. Another proposed solution regards the protein shortage in the average Venezuelan’s diet, as beef, chicken, etc. are beyond the means of all but the wealthy. It’s rabbits! They are a popular pet in Venezuela so the government says you shouldn’t view them as cute little bunnies but as two kilos of meat!

 The next idea had the potential to be a good thing but, as with all things Chavismo- related, they corrupted it. As the food crisis shifted from a simple lack of availability to a combination of limited availability and total lack of affordability the government came up with a plan to deliver boxes of food to those in need every two weeks, enough to feed a family of five. OK, so we knew from the start that feeding a family of five was overly ambitious but it’s still a good idea…well…kinda’.

 First, the CLAP (Spanish acronym) program can only be received by those holding the “Carnet de la Patria. There’s that nasty “Homeland Card” again. Next, when first launched the deliveries were somewhat on schedule although, as we said, they weren’t big enough.It didn’t take long for the deliveries to become spotty with priority given to the well-connected while others might not see their CLAP boxes for a month or two. Next, the quality of the products rapidly declined and many items would be past their expiration date. Next, the government drastically overpaid for the contents of the boxes, which surprised absolutely nobody.

 More tomorrow….