On Venezuela and Coffee Shop Communism
Ah, Coffee Shop Communists. Those wannabe activists who decry capitalism and spray paint #HandsOffVenezuela on their cardboard signs all while sipping their Starbucks lattes and enjoying the fruits of the capitalist empire.
They’ve recently taken up the cause of the Venezuelan people, or so they believe. They appear seemingly at random, almost none of them having ever set foot in Venezuela, and rail against the United States, Canada and the rest of the countries who have recently announced support for Venezuela’s new interim president Juan Guaidó. They use words like imperialism and interventionism, and go on and on about the beauty of socialism if only the Capitalist empire would leave well enough alone.
You see, for them, it’s all about ideology. Romanticism. A raised fist. Speaking their truth to power. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The country’s beloved AOC. How could she possibly be preaching something awful? She’s so… adorable.
There’s no doubt. Socialism sounds great on paper.
But even the most perfect idea can’t be perfectly implemented by a naturally imperfect people.
To them, their talking points sound like nothing more than caring for their fellow humans. Accessible healthcare. Wage equality. An equal tax burden. How could that be bad?
Never mind what it means in practice. Never mind that history has shown us that these systems simply do not work. Never mind that socialist governments almost always fall into corruption quicker and deeper than their capitalist counterparts because the leaders must hide their stolen wealth lest they are found out.
Even the most perfect idea can’t be perfectly implemented by a naturally imperfect people.
You talk to these coffee shop communists and try to give them the facts. But facts are just fake news to them.
I tell them that I personally cross paths with some of the infamous Andrade family who own Olympic level show jumping horses paid for by funds siphoned from Venezuela. They fly from competition to competition on lavish private planes, eventually flying that plane right back to Venezuela to preach the immorality of wealth. But that hypocrisy and theft doesn’t matter to the Coffee Shop Communist. I must be making it up. I’m part of the empire.
I tell them that the U.S. sanctions didn’t cause the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. That the Maduro regime did that itself when it blocked international aid. I tell them about the six infants I know of personally who died in the last few months from malnutrition. I tell them about the doctors I know who were forced to cover up the cause of death. No one dies of malnutrition in Venezuela, you see. Not officially. Not on paper.
I explain that so bad are the shortages in Venezuela that an entire economy has arisen abroad surrounding the procurement and delivery of boxes of basic goods to family members still in Venezuela. My family personally sends boxes every month of food, toothpaste, toilet paper and other such luxuries to the grandparents who still remain in Venezuela.
I tell them about the colectivos, the government-armed motorcycle militias tasked with suppressing votes and silencing voices by any means necessary.
I tell them about the National Guardsmen who entered the home of my own husband’s great uncle — a prominent lawyer, educator, author, and political expert — to intimidate him into silence.
But it doesn’t matter. They’ve read an article on Venezuela Analysis that shows well-stocked grocery stores full of smiling, happy people. Never mind that Venezuela Analysis is funded by the regime. Never mind that Venezuela Analysis is a propaganda machine.
No one dies of malnutrition in Venezuela, you see. At least not officially. Not on paper.
I tell them that Juan Guaidó didn’t “declare himself president” as the media repeatedly states. I explain the Venezuelan constitution and the fact that the key to understanding the clause upon which Guaidó bases his claim to the interim presidency must be understood in the context of a vacant presidency. There is no elected president in Venezuela right now. That office is vacant due to illegitimate elections.
An election without opposition is no election at all, you see.
Ah, but there was opposition! They say. Henri Falcón.
I want to laugh. I also want to cry a little, but I don’t.
I patiently — or as patiently as possible — explain that Henri Falcón is a long time Chavista who switched parties in order to give the appearance of a legitimately contested presidential election. He even refused to recognize the election result for good measure. I explain that all of the real opposition candidates were jailed, forced into exile, or barred from running for office.
But even if we agree on the interpretation of the constitution, the Supreme Court declared the National Assembly to be unconstitutional. Juan Guaidó can’t be interim president because the Asamblea Nacional doesn’t exist anymore. It’s a farce. They say.
Imagine this scenario.
President Trump, following the blue wave of newly elected Democrats last November, decides he feels threatened and has his Supreme Court — leaning heavily to the right end of the political spectrum of course— declare Congress unconstitutional, replacing them forthwith with a completely right-wing contingent.
Crazy, right? The people elected their representatives. We’d be outraged if someone usurped their power and declared a democratically elected body null and void, wouldn’t we?
That’s exactly what happened in Venezuela.
The reality is, the Asamblea Nacional is the last remaining legislative body that was truly democratically elected. But once it was declared void and replaced by the Constituent Assembly, made up entirely of pro-Maduro representatives, the Asamblea Nacional continued to operate in exile.
You see, they knew that it was only a matter of time before the presidency was well and truly usurped.
And that time has come.
Beyond a simple lack of true opposition in the recent presidential elections, there were a number of other issues which brought into question the validity of the electoral process. Not the least of which is the public declaration of the creator of the voting machines used in the election that they had been rigged.
We’d be outraged if someone usurped their power and declared a democratically elected body null and void, wouldn’t we?
That’s exactly what happened in Venezuela.
Taking into consideration all the irregularities and a virtual lack of real opposition, the international community began decrying the elections as invalid and calling Nicolas Maduro a dictator.
Without valid elections, the man inhabiting the presidential palace is indeed a usurper, and without a validly elected president, the office sits vacant. And as the president of the duly elected Asamblea Nacional, Juan Guaidó is constitutionally duty-bound to assume the role of interim president.
It’s no secret that socialism runs on a propaganda machine. Venezuela is no different.
Like any good would-be socialist, these Coffee Shop Communists point to the long and sordid history of U.S. interference in Latin America. They point to the claims of the Maduro regime that if only the U.S. would cease its meddling, the economy would flourish. If only the U.S. would stop trying to assassinate key players, they would have a socialist utopia. Socialism of the 21st Century, as it’s called in Venezuela.
The Maduro regime, like that of Chavez before him, has long pointed its finger at the United States as the source of its woes. This is nothing new. Government-run media, which is in fact all media in Venezuela, is full of Maduro and his party decrying never-ending assassination plots and economic interference.
But it’s no secret that socialism runs on propaganda. Venezuela is no different, and its propaganda machine is hard at work.
You point to the oil reserves, and you decry the U.S.’s lack of respect for the sovereignty of Venezuela. Surely this must be a U.S. backed coup. They’re just after the oil you say.
I’d ask you this: Do you think Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are in Venezuela for the arepas and tequeños?
Despite your parroted talking points and the entire world’s obsession with oil, this particular regime-change-in-the-making is entirely in the hands of the Venezuelan people. It’s you who are disregarding the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people.
It’s easy to be a Coffee Shop Communist. It’s nice to laud the benefits of socialism from your comfortable chair with a full belly. It’s great to be able to protest for what you believe in without fear of repercussions or death.
Socialism cannot be sustained in a culture of corruption. One cannot lead a country on the principle of wealth being immoral, all while living a life of extreme wealth.
But please, while you do it, have some respect for the people who live the day-to-day reality of the system you uphold. Have some respect for the lives they’ve laid down and those they put on the line daily in order to bring about change.
Socialism cannot be sustained in a culture of corruption. One cannot lead a country on the principle of wealth being immoral, all while living a life of extreme wealth. One cannot govern a country on the principle of do as I say, not as I do. So, the Venezuelan people have chosen to take steps down an alternate path. They’ve chosen to abandon the socialist revolution.
They’ve chosen something other than patria, socialismo o muerte. They’ve chosen democracy. And make no mistake. It is indeed the vast majority who are marching full speed ahead down this new path.
So please, have some respect for their agency as a people and sovereignty as a nation. Keep your own hands, and opinions, off Venezuela.
