My Home Country is in Turmoil…
By: Mauricio Arcabascio
Tags: Venezuela, Maduro, Trump, Humanitarian, Foreign Policy

And some of the politics in the U.S. about it are insane.

Unless you live under a rock, I am sure you have heard of Venezuela in the news and all the turmoil running amok over there. Well, that news hits harder for me as I am from there but immigrated to the U.S. when I was seven. It hits my SO even harder as she is from there but only recently came to the U.S.

Well then, so what is all this news about Venezuela about? In a nutshell, the Maduro regime (following the footsteps of his late boss Hugo Chavez) has continued and contributed more and more intense socialistic policies. These policies contributed to the downfall and eventual utter collapse of the economy of that country. This is not a dissertation on the rights and wrongs of socialistic policies but rather a statement of fact that the socialistic policies implemented in Venezuela were unsustainable.

These enforced policies in their sum total contributed to Venezuela having supply shortages of most notably food and medicine. My SO told me it got so bad that at times she could not eat for days as there literally was no food you could buy at grocery stores. I won’t even get into the violence, the murders, and all the other messed up things that are happening in Venezuela. I think most people have heard enough about that that it paints a clear picture of the dire situation in this Latin American country.

As you have likely heard, Juan Guaido was elected interim president by the general assembly as afforded under the Venezuelan Constitution. This act is not done lightly and as the recent weeks have shown, especially difficult to pull off even when you have the majority of the people and even the Western states backing you up. I can’t even fathom the amount of danger Juan Guaido is in just by doing this. But at the end of the day, this power was invoked in order to start helping the country of Venezuela and get it the help it needs. But of course, the Maduro regime is not rolling over lightly. I read the news every day in hopes of reading something good about my home country. I hope that news comes soon…

In my opening line, I referenced some U.S. politics being insane on this subject of Guiado. Specifically, what some politicians have stated as a result of them just hating on Trump and wanting to oppose him or his agenda. I think that is ludicrous because you are ignoring the very real situation of what is happening down there in Venezuela. I don’t care which side of the isle you prefer, what is happening down there is a humanitarian crisis.

I won’t deny that Trump doing what he is doing will gain him some points — he does have a 2020 race to consider. But more importantly, regardless of who the president is, I would, and do, support a president insofar as his policies are concerned about the Venezuelan crisis. I do not agree with everything our current president has done or said but I think even if you absolutely hate the man, you should at least support this one policy. Because if all goes well, tens of millions of people will be thankful and on the road to eventual happiness again.

Hopefully you agree with me. Anything that you do that helps the Venezuelans in dire need will be appreciated. Even if it’s just understanding the situation and agreeing that it needs to improve. Regardless of where you stand just remember, humanitarian relief efforts need to enter my beloved country. I hope they do.