Western Media Fall in Lockstep for Cheap Trump/Rubio Venezuela Aid PR Stunt

[EX500rider]

29. Righttt..everything is "fake news"...where have i heard that? Except for somebody's blog...lol

I think I will trust Human Rights Watch, thanks anyway...or are they "fake news" too?

https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/05/18/hostages-hunger-venezuela

(Caracas, Venezuela) – Many Venezuelans will go to the polls on Sunday hungry. And some may be voting in the presidential election only because they fear what will happen to them if they stay home.
Getting food and medicine has become a daily preoccupation here. Most Venezuelans go to bed hungry or are eating less due to food shortages, and moderate to severe malnutrition of children under 5 increased in 2017. Venezuela’s health minister released data last year indicating that, in 2016, maternal mortality increased 65 percent, infant mortality 30 percent, and malaria cases 76 percent. Days later, President Nicolás Maduro fired her.

Mr. Maduro’s government denies that the humanitarian crisis exists. The truth is that failed government policy has ruined the economy, resulting in hyperinflation and severe shortages, and millions of Venezuelans cannot afford to buy food on the open market. Government-controlled rations are their only option.
Yet instead of allowing government-issued boxes of food to be sold by supermarkets, the Maduro regime has been using the military and its supporters to distribute them. Through this system — in which food distribution is controlled by government allies, people who tend to punish government critics — the Venezuelan authorities are using hunger as a mechanism of social and political control.

In January 2017, the Maduro regime started a campaign asking Venezuelans to register for a “carnet of the Fatherland” — a special government-issued ID document that allows access to social services. Within a year, more than 16 million Venezuelans — about half of the population — had them.
Venezuelans need this ID to get the food boxes, and also some medical procedures, housing, school supplies, pensions and special Christmas and other bonuses, among other benefits. The Maduro administration found a way to use the cards to bolster government support in elections.