And make no mistake: Venezuela’s government has had not just defenders, but outright cheerleaders. We’re not talking about just the usual Hollywood idiots like Sean Penn and Michael Moore, who praised Venezuela for providing “free health & education 4 all.”
Supposedly serious people, from “Shock Doctrine” author Naomi Klein and leftist heartthrob Jeremy Corbyn to Democratic Rep. Jose Serrano, also sang its praises—although they have fallen conspicuously silent of late. Not so for others: On Tuesday “Red” Ken Livingtstone, a former mayor of London, blamed the country’s current problems on one simple fact: “Hugo Chávez did not execute the establishment elite.”
It may come to that, if popular unrest continues and Maduro grows even more desperate.
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