Venezuela's Guaido calls for massive protest as blackout drags on

[solidLxxi]

74. The economic slowdown was more about the steep

fall in oil prices than the socialism of the Venezuelan government. Like all countries whose economies depend primarily on oil revenue, Venezuela's social programs, which were and still are very popular among the poor and communities of color there, lost a lot of funding and things became more difficult. You can fault the Chavez/Maduro governments of not properly preparing for the possibility that oil prices could drop steeply if anything, but it wasn't socialism that is to blame.

The opposition boycotted last year's elections because they knew they couldn't win them, period. The hard part of democracy is that the person you hate sometimes wins, but that doesn't mean you abandon your democratic ideals and start cheering on vicious right-wing fanatics like John Bolton and Mike Pompeo as they launch into open warfare against the people of Venezuela.

Democrats aren't going to have to distinguish themselves from the Republicans in terms of foreign policy going forward.