In Venezuela, the 1% won yesterday-there's nothing else you can say. [View all]

[Ken Burch]

With the "opposition" controlling the legislature, Venezuela will no longer be an independent country, but once again an American colony.

Social services will be cut to nothing. The oil will be privatized(meaning the people of Venezuela will no longer benefit at all from their country even having oil) and the rich and the Americans will swagger around again as if they are the natural, eternal rulers.

Hopefully, the people's movement will learn and recover.

But for the next few years, there can be nothing but misery.

Everything humane and democratic and empowering for the people, for the time being, will stop. The economy will be "diversified&quot i.e., once again subordinated to Wall Street). The community councils(the only voice the poor and the workers of Venezuela ever had, since the poor and the workers can never have a real say under "representative democracy"

The people voted...but they voted under crushing pressure from outside.

And the anti-chavistas here, all of whom have lived lives of nothing but privilege and comfort, will tell us we should be celebrating this. As if "Scandinavian social democracy" can ever be built out of a fire sale of a nation's resources and dignity.

Sickeningly, the "Socialist International&quot which is clearly no longer socialist in any sense now)was happy about the victory of the Venezuelan Thatcherites and their leader, Henry "the Marco Rubio of Venezuela" Capriles.

Maybe someday, Venezuela will be free again.