Feel the Bern: Communist Losers Stealing From a Communist Loser

A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims, but accomplices - George Orwell

By Rich Kozlovich

Silvio Canto, Jr. is a writer for American Thinker, who I've been much impressed with over the years, published an article entitled, Vlad over Caracas saying:

We know two things about Vladimir Putin and Nicolas Maduro. Putin loves to navigate in choppy waters and stick it to the U.S. Maduro is desperately looking for a sugar daddy. We learned that Russia is active down in Venezuela, to say the least.

He went on to note:

"In exchange for modest loans and bailouts over the past decade, Russia now owns significant parts of at least five oil fields in Venezuela, which holds the world's largest reserves, along with 30 years' worth of future output from two Caribbean natural-gas fields."  

"Venezuela also has signed over 49.9 percent of Citgo, its wholly owned company in the United States – including three Gulf Coast refineries and a countrywide web of pipelines – as collateral to Russia's state-owned Rosneft oil behemoth for a reported $1.5 billion in desperately needed cash."

"Russian advisers are inside the Venezuelan government, helping direct the course of President Nicolás Maduro's attempts to bring his failing government back from bankruptcy. They helped orchestrate this year's introduction of a new digital currency, the "Petro," to keep oil payments flowing while avoiding U.S. sanctions on the country's dollar transactions."

"Venezuela's still-formidable defense force, once an exclusively U.S. client, is now equipped with Russian guns, tanks and planes, financed with prepaid oil deliveries to Russian clients.  Maduro scoffed last year at President Trump's public threat to use the U.S. military to bring him down, saying Venezuela, with Russian help, had turned itself into a defensive "fortress."'

This is a bad thing why? It's a good thing for America, but it really stinks for the people of Venezuela.

First off, just how impressive can their defense force be? On August 5, 2018 Monica Showalter posted the article, Venezuela: Always a bad sign when your military scatters and runs.

During an alleged coup there were "explosions" of unknown origin as she notes:

"The military ran. It broke up like a mob of scared rabbits. They were the picture of chaos and disorder and it was all caught on camera. The whole grand parade Maduro was making a speech at the head of absolutely fell apart as the soldiers broke and fled in panic."

Unless they're brutalizing their own people, Venezuela's military is at best a leaky vessel, and I don't care whose military equipment they're using. If anyone invades, they're gone! 

Russia, just like China, is broke. Putin was great playing chess with Obama, since Obama was playing checkers.  But that horse has left the barn. Now he's trying to play chess with Trump, and Trump can add pieces to the board Putin doesn't have. It also appears he's a better chess player than Putin, playing multiple boards at the same time.

There's no bailing Venezuela out. It's a money pit with a bottomless hole. It is in such dire straits it will take decades to repair the damage done by Chavez and Maduro and that of band of thieves, cut throats and thugs. Especially the long term health consequences for children who've been starved while the military and ruling elite steal the food for themselves.   And Putin isn't going to buy into that economic and social swamp.

Furthermore, there's a problem with Venezuelan oil.  The nation's oil is thick and rich with contaminants making it hard to refine and they may become the only energy rich nation without a market because fracking oil is not only light and sweet - it's super light and sweet - and there are few refineries in the world who will take their oil - most of them are in the Gulf Coast of the U.S. And when those refineries change over for fracking oil.  What then? The vast majority of Venezuela's wealth comes from oil, and the worldwide price has dropped dramatically!  When all the refineries convert to that oil, who will take Venezuela's oil? Russia? China?

I describe just what a mess this is in my May 13, 2018 article The World as I See It: Venezuela.  Who's going to fix all that?  Russia?  China?

Make no mistake about this. Both Russia and China are in for what they can steal, and they're not going to build new refineries in their respective countries, nor are they going to fix the ones in Venezuela. And they're certainly not going to build any new ones in Venezuela.  And we also have to remember Chavez and his band of thieves stole all that made the Venezuelan oil profitable.  Will those he stole it from really accept him selling their property to someone else without taking legal action?   

On April 3, 2018 Monica Showalter published the article, Even Venezuela's sugar daddies, Russia and China, are bailing out.  Saying:

"Right under the radar, Venezuela is getting dumped by its two sugar daddies, Russia's state-linked Rosneft energy giant, and China's state-linked PetroChina. Bye-bye money, because this is a big blow. The pair of them were slated to run two of the three of Venezuela's monster-big refineries in the Paraguana complex, Amuay and Cardon, two refineries that were the crown jewel of Venezuela's global oil presence. Back in the 1990s, these were the most advanced and best-run refineries in the world.  

Today, they have fallen into such a state of shambles even the Russkis and Chicoms won't touch them. According to a report from Kallish Energy, the repair costs of the Chavista-managed socialist-run rubble is $10 billion with a 'b.' They'd have to shell that out just to get the darn things running and then would get ten years to run them and sell their products before forking them back over, free of charge, to the Venezuelan Chavista government, which ruined them"

It wasn't that many months ago when there were writers who were all worked up about the potential of Russians getting a toehold in South America via Venezuela.  I stated that wasn't going to happen since the Russians are broke and don't even finance Cuba any longer - and as bad a shape Cuba is in - it's an economic power house compared to Venezuela.  This was predictable to the most casual observer.

The cure is coming, and that fix will be total economic collapse, and there's no need for the U.S. to get involved, as there is no upside for America.

If we invade, we'll be criticized as greedy corrupt capitalists trying to steal a poor countries asset, even if we saved millions from starvation, sickness and disease. That accusation will be played over and over again.

If we don't invade, we're accused of being selfish, greedy, cold hearted capitalists, but that accusation will pass.

That makes it a no-win situation for the U.S. no matter what we do. So, if there's no upside, then let's choose to save the lives of American soldiers and the money of American taxpayers. 

If the world really thinks something needs to be done militarily, then and let the hypocrites of the United Nations, and the nations of South and Latin America do it.  Understand this.  If that happens and a new government is formed, there's only one direction that government can turn to for any real and legitimate economic support. North!  If it doesn't happen the devastation that exists will continue and even worsen.  If they do what needs to be done, we will determine the terms.  They will be saved and we will win, not only in Venezuela, but all the Northern tier South American countries, and that will also play out in the rest of South America.   

As for now, the people of Venezuela jumped on Chavez's socialist bandwagon when it was obvious who he was and what he was going to do.... and stupidly....... they loved it. Let them live with the consequences of that stupidity.

This is not America’s fight, or America’s responsibility! We owe them nothing!

You may wish to view just how bad it was by the end of 2016 in My Commentary, Venezuela "Felt The Bern" in 2016