UN: Rule of law absent in Venezuela

[GatoGordo]

2. Part of the problem is cultural

Venezuelans have gotten used to a certain amount of corruption. It certainly had its fair share of it prior to Chavismo in 1999, but has taken off like a rocket since.

Another aspect is that the government has armed, and until recently well funded its allies. The PNB and GNB (national police and national guard) serve Chavismo, and not Venezuela. Chavismos version of Hitlers Brown Shirts (SA) are known as the colectivos. The Chavistas have given the colectivos money, guns and the infrastructure (phones, motorcycles, etc) to enforce their version of the Bolivarian Revolution. They have recruited them from the prisons and slums and given them "authority" to do whatever they please, providing that they come to the aid of Chavismo when called upon to do the work that the GNB/PNB cannot be seen doing. Two days ago, physicians and nurses marched on Miraflores (Venezuelan version of the White House) to demand supplies, clean water, better wages, conditions and security in their hospitals/clinics. They were able to get past the PNB... where they ran into the red-shirted colectivos who weren't obliged to act "nice" to the protesters. The results were predictable.

Also, Chavez had the ear of the Castros, who upon the strikes of 2002-2003, started replacing every single person of importance with a Cuban trained infiltrator. The police and military are full of these frauds who care not a whit about Venezuela, but the Gospel of Marx. Every single officer from Captain on up is a Chavista, and the enlisted ranks are filled with infiltrators. Everyone else is either exiled, jailed or "retired".