If by “re-elected,” you mean “successfully rigged an election so they could stay in power,” then, yes.
It almost worked here (the US). The DNC must be green with envy.
Things You Won’t See on the CBC…
“Falcon says his campaign collected thousands of complaints indicating ruling party activists set up so-called “Red Points” intended to pressure the poor to vote for Maduro at 86 percent of voting centers across Venezuela.”
“Red Points”…. Sounds like a future Liberal campaign strategy, to me.
Any tyrant worth his salt can rig an election.
The real battle for Maduro is keeping the police and military on his side, and given Venezuela’s horrendous economic situation, that is becoming increasingly difficult. Hungry soldiers are not loyal soldiers.
But reversing Venezuela’s fortunes will be impossible without reversing its economic policies, and I doubt that is palatable to Maduro.
“Hungry soldiers are not loyal soldiers.”
Yep – Maduro’s challenge is to immunize police and soldiers from the starvation by extending partnership in corruption to them. It leaves less for Maduro and his cronies to steal but it is a necessity. I’m sure all his family and friends will end up billionaires just like those of Chavez. While Venezuela is a classical communist economic meltdown, an equally serious problem is the level of theft and corruption.
Maduro can only extend the corruption to the senior officers. There isn’t enough for the rest, so the lower ranks and enlisted men have to live off of their salaries, and that’s not tenable.
It’s an obvious giveaway when they open ballot boxes with 100% Maduro votes. I am not holding up any hope that the lives for Venezuelans will improve.
Agreed 100% is a self condemning count and reminded me of 2012.
They do a sort of analysis to claim it could happen but the easiest analysis would be a comparison of how many times the zero count happened in prior, and now post 2012, Philly elections. If someone did do that I didn’t look that hard to find it. The evidence could draw a piling on penalty.
The bus driver just “parked the bus” … and he parked it over the Venezuelan people. This fool is CRUSHING the people of his country with his Marxist policies.
Note: starving people just “voted” for more starvation. Right. … our base instincts tell us this is not true. But if it is … ? … then all I can say is stupid people will Darwin themselves out of existence. Meh.
Although it’s certain that the election was rigged, there’s also the strange habit that many oppressed people have of voting for more oppression. Socialism has all but destroyed Venezuela’s economy, but all the socialists need do is warn the voters that the evil conservatives will take away all the wonderful government benefits, and if they think they have it tough now, just wait until you try to survive without government help. And it works every time. Just look at Ontario – the Libs did huge damage to their economy so they replaced their leader with a worse one and won another majority. Now that the Wynne government has trashed a once powerhouse economy, what will the voters do? Probably elect the radical NDP! It makes no sense but that’s frequently how it goes.
Which is why socialism always infects so called “conservatives”.
“oh, we can’t win unless we promise more than those guys”
“oh, unless we go along with the climate policies that put in place, we can’t win”
Which always makes me wonder, why are so called “conservative” voters, so loyal to so called “conservative” political parties?
“It makes no sense but that’s frequently how it goes.” A sad reality is true. A subservient media is also a big factor.
“Those who cast the votes decide nothing.
Those who count the votes decide everything.”
– Joseph Stalin
That is what I think happened. In all reality how could voters continue to vote for a government that has brought them nothing but empty stores shelves, no jobs, and squalor.
But then, keep an eye on Ontario. The voters there could be voting for the same thing.
I have a different take on Venezuela. It is easily the world’s most successful socialist government (by successful I mean the extent to which it has embraced socialism). Where would capitalist democracies be without socialism? Imagine if Venezuela was marginally more successful than say Cuba. Bernie Sanders might have beaten Hillary, gone on to win the White House and all the Venezuelan’s fleeing socialism would have nowhere to go.
And that is really my only hesitation with socialism. If it is so great, why are the people who voted for it fleeing the country for the world’s most successful capitalist democracy? Why not flee to the much closer Argentina?
People say that Venezuela is on the verge of collapse. This is nonsense. It’s just right-sizing its economy as the socialist experiment continues. I hope its 55 year old bus driver stays in power for another 35 years. Only then will we be able to appreciate the full effects of socialism. And if a few Venezuelans have to be sacrificed along the way? Ask not what your country can do for you! And fuck the zoos. They aren’t environmentally friendly anyway.
My daughter lives in Chile. While obtaining her temporary 1 year residency permit, there were 2 other lines, each dedicated one to middle class Venezuelans trying to get into Chile and one for Haitians. The Chileans employ the Haitians as farm labor, yes, they live in dormitories on the farm, but they have food, clothes, showers, toilets and their children go to school. Yes, the work is hard, but it is much better than living in squalor on the streets of Port au Prince. Chile is a one of the 3 first world countries in South America (the others are Ecuador and British Guyana) and rigorously enforces its immigration laws as to who is allowed into the country to stay and work. I get the impression from my daughter that Chile learned its lessons in the 1970’s.
When you rely on the government to help you live, you forfeit your right to complain about the conditions of that life.
venezuela is a microcosm of things to come on the global scale.
the problem is the too too short sightedness of the swirling masses.
freebies ALWAYS win out next to opportunities to work, build, save, work, and along the way take a time out to bask in one’s success. all the while formulating contingency plans for inevitable but unknown change.
but that ‘s way to heavy on the WORK part.
and the elites know this; likewise eager to shell out the freebies to maintain power.
temporarily, until some sort of ‘law of gravity’ thing grabs the warped economy and does its own ‘fine tuning’ which isn’t all that ‘fine’. more like a tsunami.
If by “re-elected,” you mean “successfully rigged an election so they could stay in power,” then, yes.
It almost worked here (the US). The DNC must be green with envy.
Things You Won’t See on the CBC…
“Falcon says his campaign collected thousands of complaints indicating ruling party activists set up so-called “Red Points” intended to pressure the poor to vote for Maduro at 86 percent of voting centers across Venezuela.”
“Red Points”…. Sounds like a future Liberal campaign strategy, to me.
Any tyrant worth his salt can rig an election.
The real battle for Maduro is keeping the police and military on his side, and given Venezuela’s horrendous economic situation, that is becoming increasingly difficult. Hungry soldiers are not loyal soldiers.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article204927784.html
But reversing Venezuela’s fortunes will be impossible without reversing its economic policies, and I doubt that is palatable to Maduro.
“Hungry soldiers are not loyal soldiers.”
Yep – Maduro’s challenge is to immunize police and soldiers from the starvation by extending partnership in corruption to them. It leaves less for Maduro and his cronies to steal but it is a necessity. I’m sure all his family and friends will end up billionaires just like those of Chavez. While Venezuela is a classical communist economic meltdown, an equally serious problem is the level of theft and corruption.
Maduro can only extend the corruption to the senior officers. There isn’t enough for the rest, so the lower ranks and enlisted men have to live off of their salaries, and that’s not tenable.
It’s an obvious giveaway when they open ballot boxes with 100% Maduro votes. I am not holding up any hope that the lives for Venezuelans will improve.
Agreed 100% is a self condemning count and reminded me of 2012.
“In 59 Philadelphia voting divisions, Mitt Romney got zero votes”
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20121112_In_59_Philadelphia_voting_wards__Mitt_Romney_got_zero_votes.html
They do a sort of analysis to claim it could happen but the easiest analysis would be a comparison of how many times the zero count happened in prior, and now post 2012, Philly elections. If someone did do that I didn’t look that hard to find it. The evidence could draw a piling on penalty.
The bus driver just “parked the bus” … and he parked it over the Venezuelan people. This fool is CRUSHING the people of his country with his Marxist policies.
Note: starving people just “voted” for more starvation. Right. … our base instincts tell us this is not true. But if it is … ? … then all I can say is stupid people will Darwin themselves out of existence. Meh.
Although it’s certain that the election was rigged, there’s also the strange habit that many oppressed people have of voting for more oppression. Socialism has all but destroyed Venezuela’s economy, but all the socialists need do is warn the voters that the evil conservatives will take away all the wonderful government benefits, and if they think they have it tough now, just wait until you try to survive without government help. And it works every time. Just look at Ontario – the Libs did huge damage to their economy so they replaced their leader with a worse one and won another majority. Now that the Wynne government has trashed a once powerhouse economy, what will the voters do? Probably elect the radical NDP! It makes no sense but that’s frequently how it goes.
Which is why socialism always infects so called “conservatives”.
“oh, we can’t win unless we promise more than those guys”
“oh, unless we go along with the climate policies that put in place, we can’t win”
Which always makes me wonder, why are so called “conservative” voters, so loyal to so called “conservative” political parties?
“It makes no sense but that’s frequently how it goes.” A sad reality is true. A subservient media is also a big factor.
“Those who cast the votes decide nothing.
Those who count the votes decide everything.”
– Joseph Stalin
That is what I think happened. In all reality how could voters continue to vote for a government that has brought them nothing but empty stores shelves, no jobs, and squalor.
But then, keep an eye on Ontario. The voters there could be voting for the same thing.
I have a different take on Venezuela. It is easily the world’s most successful socialist government (by successful I mean the extent to which it has embraced socialism). Where would capitalist democracies be without socialism? Imagine if Venezuela was marginally more successful than say Cuba. Bernie Sanders might have beaten Hillary, gone on to win the White House and all the Venezuelan’s fleeing socialism would have nowhere to go.
And that is really my only hesitation with socialism. If it is so great, why are the people who voted for it fleeing the country for the world’s most successful capitalist democracy? Why not flee to the much closer Argentina?
People say that Venezuela is on the verge of collapse. This is nonsense. It’s just right-sizing its economy as the socialist experiment continues. I hope its 55 year old bus driver stays in power for another 35 years. Only then will we be able to appreciate the full effects of socialism. And if a few Venezuelans have to be sacrificed along the way? Ask not what your country can do for you! And fuck the zoos. They aren’t environmentally friendly anyway.
My daughter lives in Chile. While obtaining her temporary 1 year residency permit, there were 2 other lines, each dedicated one to middle class Venezuelans trying to get into Chile and one for Haitians. The Chileans employ the Haitians as farm labor, yes, they live in dormitories on the farm, but they have food, clothes, showers, toilets and their children go to school. Yes, the work is hard, but it is much better than living in squalor on the streets of Port au Prince. Chile is a one of the 3 first world countries in South America (the others are Ecuador and British Guyana) and rigorously enforces its immigration laws as to who is allowed into the country to stay and work. I get the impression from my daughter that Chile learned its lessons in the 1970’s.
When you rely on the government to help you live, you forfeit your right to complain about the conditions of that life.
As reported by people that live in Venezuela…
https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2018/05/21/may-20-election-no-surprises-lots-of-questions/
Donald Trump wades into it…
https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2018/05/21/breaking-news-donald-trump-signs-new-executive-order-that-prohibits-further-transactions-with-venezuela/
From Daniel Duquenal who lives and blogs from Venezuela…
“The results are in, the fraud is scandalous, again”
http://daniel-venezuela.blogspot.ca/2018/05/results-fraud-2018-election-venezuela.html#more
Breitbart:
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/05/21/venezuela-maduro-reelected-with-record-low-turnout-rampant-fraud/
venezuela is a microcosm of things to come on the global scale.
the problem is the too too short sightedness of the swirling masses.
freebies ALWAYS win out next to opportunities to work, build, save, work, and along the way take a time out to bask in one’s success. all the while formulating contingency plans for inevitable but unknown change.
but that ‘s way to heavy on the WORK part.
and the elites know this; likewise eager to shell out the freebies to maintain power.
temporarily, until some sort of ‘law of gravity’ thing grabs the warped economy and does its own ‘fine tuning’ which isn’t all that ‘fine’. more like a tsunami.