Bernie Sanders Asked About Failures of Socialism in Venezuela and Refuses to Comment

[bripat9643]

Who would have ever thunk that Bernie wouldn't have an opinion about the stunning success of his policies in Venezuela?

Bernie Sanders Asked About Failures of Socialism in Venezuela and Refuses to Comment​

It's no surprise Democrat Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is an advocate of socialism. He's openly advocated for socialist policies on the 2016 campaign trail and back in the 1980s, Sanders argued bread lines are a sign of economic progress.

"You know, it's funny. Sometimes American journalists talk about how bad a country is when people are lining up for food. That's a good thing. In other countries, people don't line up for food. The rich get the food and the poor starve to death," Sanders lamented at the time.

But now that Venezuelan socialism is leading to the downfall of the country, with citizens hunting dogs and cats for food as the government fails to equally provide, Sanders doesn't have much to say.

During an interview with Univision this week, Sanders was specifically asked about the current failing of socialist systems throughout South America. Sanders avoided commenting.

LEÓN KRAUZE, UNIVISION: I am sure that you know about this topic: various leftist governments, especially the populists, are in serious trouble in Latin America. The socialist model in Venezuela has the country near collapse. Argentina, also Brazil, how do you explain that failure?

BERNIE SANDERS, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: You are asking me questions…

LEÓN KRAUZE, UNIVISION: I am sure you’re interested in that.

BERNIE SANDERS, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: I am very interested, but right now I’m running for President of the United States.

LEÓN KRAUZE, UNIVISION: So you don’t have an opinion about the crisis in Venezuela?

BERNIE SANDERS, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: Of course I have an opinion, but as I said, I’m focused on my campaign.​

 

[Two Thumbs]

here's the answer;

bern still has devout che socialist working for and with him.

he still thinks it will work, this time.



he simply demonstrates the vast, deep and wide, ignorance it takes to be a socialist.

 

[Arianrhod]

Who would have ever thunk that Bernie wouldn't have an opinion about the stunning success of his policies in Venezuela?

Bernie Sanders Asked About Failures of Socialism in Venezuela and Refuses to Comment​

It's no surprise Democrat Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is an advocate of socialism. He's openly advocated for socialist policies on the 2016 campaign trail and back in the 1980s, Sanders argued bread lines are a sign of economic progress.

"You know, it's funny. Sometimes American journalists talk about how bad a country is when people are lining up for food. That's a good thing. In other countries, people don't line up for food. The rich get the food and the poor starve to death," Sanders lamented at the time.

But now that Venezuelan socialism is leading to the downfall of the country, with citizens hunting dogs and cats for food as the government fails to equally provide, Sanders doesn't have much to say.

During an interview with Univision this week, Sanders was specifically asked about the current failing of socialist systems throughout South America. Sanders avoided commenting.

LEÓN KRAUZE, UNIVISION: I am sure that you know about this topic: various leftist governments, especially the populists, are in serious trouble in Latin America. The socialist model in Venezuela has the country near collapse. Argentina, also Brazil, how do you explain that failure?

BERNIE SANDERS, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: You are asking me questions…

LEÓN KRAUZE, UNIVISION: I am sure you’re interested in that.

BERNIE SANDERS, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: I am very interested, but right now I’m running for President of the United States.

LEÓN KRAUZE, UNIVISION: So you don’t have an opinion about the crisis in Venezuela?

BERNIE SANDERS, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: Of course I have an opinion, but as I said, I’m focused on my campaign.​

So either you believe Venezuela is the 57th State, or you believe the U.S. needs to invade them. Otherwise, why would you "care"?

 

[Pumpkin Row]

So either you believe Venezuela is the 57th State, or you believe the U.S. needs to invade them. Otherwise, why would you "care"?

So, basically "We're not Venezuela". The reason Socialists think the same policies will work, despite failing during the Great Depression, failing in Russia, failing in Greece, failing in Germany, failing in China, failing in Cuba, failing in Rome, failing in Venezuela, and failing in a TON of other countries and cases I won't even bother to list, is because "It's not that time period", "We're not them". It's even failing right now, in this very country, as businesses leave, Labor Force Participation continues to drop,a nd the government assures us it's totally, totally not happening. It's funny, because that's the only thing Socialists can say in order to claim "it will work this time, really it will". That's like saying "attempting to fly didn't work yesterday, but today isn't yesterday! Let's try again! Maybe gravity stopped working!". It doesn't matter how many times the ideal is tweaked, because the problem is in the core components of Socialism. It hasn't worked, it doesn't currently work, it will never work. We've watched country after country share their misery equally among their citizens all just to expand their own government power, and still people ignore history, and ignore current events. It's things like this that kill faith in humanity.

 

[emilynghiem]

I say we let Sanders Greens and Democrats try out these experiments on their own party constituents.
Set up a collective workers coop, health care coops, etc. for members/leaders who agree to buy in
and run it as a group. Develop a working model, prove that it works more cost-effectively.
Then other people can opt into it or replicate it if it works so well.
I understand this may work for standard health care to organize it collectively to reduce costs.

But for catastrophic medical emergencies and costs, insurance or some other means are needed for that.
So why not separate which can be done voluntarily through programs the members CHOOSE to fund and participate in.
And leave only the catastrophic threats to life and public health and safety for other means, and work those out as well.
I think that as much as we waste in taxes on a failed prison system costing billions, we could fund regular level
health care, and find ways to cover the cost of major emergencies.

 

[Two Thumbs]

Who would have ever thunk that Bernie wouldn't have an opinion about the stunning success of his policies in Venezuela?

Bernie Sanders Asked About Failures of Socialism in Venezuela and Refuses to Comment​

It's no surprise Democrat Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is an advocate of socialism. He's openly advocated for socialist policies on the 2016 campaign trail and back in the 1980s, Sanders argued bread lines are a sign of economic progress.

"You know, it's funny. Sometimes American journalists talk about how bad a country is when people are lining up for food. That's a good thing. In other countries, people don't line up for food. The rich get the food and the poor starve to death," Sanders lamented at the time.

But now that Venezuelan socialism is leading to the downfall of the country, with citizens hunting dogs and cats for food as the government fails to equally provide, Sanders doesn't have much to say.

During an interview with Univision this week, Sanders was specifically asked about the current failing of socialist systems throughout South America. Sanders avoided commenting.

LEÓN KRAUZE, UNIVISION: I am sure that you know about this topic: various leftist governments, especially the populists, are in serious trouble in Latin America. The socialist model in Venezuela has the country near collapse. Argentina, also Brazil, how do you explain that failure?

BERNIE SANDERS, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: You are asking me questions…

LEÓN KRAUZE, UNIVISION: I am sure you’re interested in that.

BERNIE SANDERS, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: I am very interested, but right now I’m running for President of the United States.

LEÓN KRAUZE, UNIVISION: So you don’t have an opinion about the crisis in Venezuela?

BERNIE SANDERS, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: Of course I have an opinion, but as I said, I’m focused on my campaign.​

So either you believe Venezuela is the 57th State, or you believe the U.S. needs to invade them. Otherwise, why would you "care"?

we care b/c morons, like you, want more socialism here, and you know it will destroy the country, b/c it always destroys.

You can't not know and be able to remember to breath.

the facts are overwhelming

but you're a leftist and are incapable of clearing on your own, so you let tv teach you that it will work this time b/c we are calling it democratic socialism with is magically different then socialism.

I work with a moron that thinks we will get $20/hour once the min goes to $15 b/c we will be owed it.

Is that you?

 

[waltky]

Venezuelans go to Colombia for food, medicine unavailable at home...

Thousands of Venezuelans enter Colombia for food, medicine
July 17, 2016 – Tens of thousands of Venezuelans poured into neighboring Colombia to buy food and medicine on Saturday after authorities briefly opened the border that has been closed for almost a year.

A similar measure last week led to dramatic scenes of the elderly and mothers storming Colombian supermarkets and highlighted how daily life has deteriorated for millions in Venezuela, where the economy has been in a freefall since the 2014 crash in oil prices. Colombia's foreign ministry said in a statement that at least 35,000 Venezuelans entered Colombia on Saturday, and their entry took place "in an orderly manner and under conditions of security." The border was opened for roughly eight hours and will be opened again on Sunday, it said. Roughly 35,000 people also crossed during last week's 12-hour border opening.

Venezuelan citizens listen to a national guardsman as they try to cross over the Simon Bolivar international bridge to Colombia to take advantage of the temporary border opening in San Antonio del Tachira​

Saturday's opening took businesses in the Colombian border city of Cucuta by surprise since it had been announced that the border would opened on Sunday. Colombian Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said "we have made a great effort to have sufficient supplies" for the Venezuelans expected to stream across the border on Saturday and Sunday. Gov. Jose Vielma of the Venezuelan border state of Tachira said that President Nicolas Maduro supported the opening, ordering that people "not be disturbed" when they crossed into Colombia.

Maduro blames the shortages of food, medicine and basic staples in Venezuela on his opponents, who he accuses of trying to sow economic chaos to oust him from office. His critics accuse his socialist government of economic mismanagement. Maduro ordered the 1,378-mile (2,219 kilometer) border shut in August 2015 to clamp down on criminal gangs smuggling over the border goods and gasoline sold at subsidized prices in Venezuela. Before it was closed, more than 100,000 people daily used the two main crossings, according to the Venezuelan government. That has shrunk to just 3,000 a day, many of them students and sick people given special day passes, nonprofit groups working in the region say.

Thousands of Venezuelans enter Colombia for food, medicine | Fox News

 

[Rexx Taylor]

isnt Bernie going to run for President of Venezueala next year?

 

[waltky]

Venezuela government fightin' Maduro recall effort...

Venezuela government aims to sink Maduro recall, opposition protests
Wednesday 27th July, 2016: Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government sought on Tuesday to scupper a push by the opposition to oust him this year via a referendum, while his opponents called for protests.

As the OPEC nation faces an unprecedented economic crisis, both sides are deadlocked over a provision in the constitution allowing a recall referendum halfway through the president's six-year term. Government supporters lodged a complaint at the election board saying the Democratic Unity (MUD) coalition falsified signatures in an initial collection to trigger the process. "They are committing grave fraud and corruption," senior Socialist Party leader Jorge Rodriguez told reporters outside the election council, saying signatures of nearly 11,000 dead people and 3,000 minors were included.

Maduro, 53, who won election to replace Hugo Chavez in 2013, has vowed there will be no referendum, and the election council has been dragging its feet over the process. The opposition urged supporters to march to the council's Caracas headquarters on Wednesday to demand it validate the first round of signatures, 1 percent of registered voters in each state. Previous protests this year have turned violent. "We are in an emergency," opposition leader Henrique Capriles said in a speech at a public event. "All the prices are rising and the government does nothing. ... To change this situation, there has to be political change."

If the referendum process proceeds, the next stage would be for the opposition to obtain 20 percent, or nearly 4 million signatures, asking for the vote. In a communique, the election board said it would assess the validity of the first round of signatures on Monday, adding it was worried about aggression against its staff by protesters. In addition to Tuesday's action, the government has lodged a plethora of court challenges. It also says there is not enough time to organise a referendum this year because the opposition waited too long before activating the mechanism.

The timing is important because if Maduro loses a referendum this year, there would be a new presidential vote - which polls indicate he would likely lose. If Maduro loses a referendum after January, he would be replaced by his vice president, leaving the Socialist Party in power until the next presidential election scheduled for the end of 2018. Critics blame failed socialist policies for Venezuela's 2-1/2 year recession, the world's highest inflation, product shortages and long lines at shops. Maduro says the fault lies with falling oil prices and an "economic" war by opponents.

Venezuela government aims to sink Maduro recall, opposition protests

 

[waltky]

If dey can't pay fer food, how do ya `spect `em to pay dey's phone bill?...

World Hangs Up on Venezuela as Phone Companies Can't Pay
Telecom providers struggle to pay in dollars for connections; Maduro blocks price increases, squeezing phone carriers

Already facing shortages of food and medicine, Venezuelans are at growing risk of being cut off from the rest of the world as the inability to get ahold of foreign currencies threatens access to phone calls and even websites abroad. Wireless operators Telefonica SA and Corp. Digitel CA have already suspended roaming services and international calls out of Venezuela after failing to extend payment terms with foreign phone companies. Prices have been rising for internet service, and even consumers who can pay often struggle to get working connections because of fraying infrastructure and outdated equipment. “There are operators that simply stop offering services because they can’t access dollars, and inflation is so rampant they just don’t know how to price it,” said Tina Lu, senior consultant at Counterpoint Technology Market Research in Buenos Aires. “The sad reality is that if the service is there, prices are now unaffordable for any Venezuelan with a median salary.”

Last week, President Nicolas Maduro blocked telecommunications operators from raising rates, which could further hurt their ability to pay for connections. Telecom companies had increased prices as much as 10-fold to help pay their own interconnection bills abroad, making phone, internet and wireless services beyond reach for many Venezuelans. The situation could get worse if internet carriers can’t afford to connect to the outside world, since many Venezuelans rely on web-based services like WhatsApp to communicate with family abroad. In many countries, including Venezuela, internet providers have to compensate their foreign counterparts or an intermediary for data transmitted into their networks. If currency woes force the carriers to stop paying, Venezuelans could be blocked from accessing internet data hosted outside the country, said Jose Otero, director of Latin America and the Caribbean for trade group 5G Americas. “If their lack of dollars continues, Venezuela could enter periods of many restrictions to access the internet, including an inability to access content hosted externally,” Otero said in an interview. “If there is no internet, there is no communication; this goes beyond being an issue for the sector because there is potential for incredible censorship.”

If the telecom companies can’t fix the problems they should sell them to the state, Maduro said on state television Monday night. “I say it like that to the telecommunications operators: if you say you can’t, sell them to us, because we’ll know how to manage them very well,” Maduro said. “It’s easy, and we’ll look for the way to do the transaction in a correct way and the fatherland will win. Nobody is going to set prices just like that. No.” Venezuelans have long used social media and foreign websites for news in absence of information from the government or state-controlled television outlets. There are about 16.7 million internet users in Venezuela, or about 63 percent of the population, according to the regulator’s latest data. “Venezuela is already isolated in physical terms, with more and more airlines canceling their services there,” said Pablo Bello, secretary general of the Inter-American Association of Telecommunications, based in Uruguay. “Now, operators cannot access foreign currencies and we see a new kind of isolation, one that could involve communication and connection, and one that worries us greatly.”

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