Ugh. Bloomberg: Those Unlucky Venezuelans

Here is another one of those examples of terrible journalism that soft-pedals the destruction wrought by socialist policies and authoritarian government.

It has been an exceptionally painful year for Venezuelans, suffering from violent crime, chronic shortages, plummeting oil prices on which they depend, declining health and fractured government. Yet this past week it seemed to reach a new low. A kind of resigned misery spread across a city that had once been the envy of Latin America.

A sudden combination of natural disasters joined man-made failures. The smog, called calima, is a meteorological phenomenon that involves ash and dust clouds fairly common for this time of year. Meanwhile a prolonged drought blamed on El Nino and related forest fires has arrived. Levels at the Guri dam in the south, which produces 40 percent of the country’s electricity, are reaching record lows.

Bad year?  Venezuela has been headed down the toilet for years and years as Chavez and now Maduro have destroyed the economy with their aggressive state-directed, oil-funded socialism. 

Natural disasters?  Aww, pobrecitos!  Bullshit, Venezuelans have cheered, voted for, and even during the worst of it, tolerated Chavista destruction.  They have nobody to blame but themselves. No one should have any sympathy for Venezuelan people, they are reaping what they have enthusiastically sown for decades.