I AM a Venezuelan woman married to a Scottish husband and I have enjoyed living in your beautiful country for more than a decade.
I read the article written by David Pratt (Who are the good guys and bad guys in Venezuela? Sadly it’s not that simple, February 8). For the first time in my life, I am writing a letter in rebuttal.
Mr Pratt, it seems, is not sure who the good guys and the bad guys are in Venezuela? “Ask Venezuelans themselves and they’ll only too quickly point out how long their suffering and hardship has been going on. For decades the country has suffered under the rule of the strongman...” Mr Pratt, let me invite you to come and speak to the burgeoning Venezuelan expatriate community in Aberdeenshire and we will be only too happy to explain the true facts about the “suffering and hardship”. Since 2013, Venezuelan GDP has fallen by 50%. Our worthless currency has this year seen inflation of more than a million per cent. Most hospitals have no running water. Over a tenth of the whole population has fled, anywhere. My own niece has recently taken a one-way flight to Cartagena, Colombia. My sister is considering emigrating to Chile. People are desperately hungry and they are succumbing to the most simple maladies. You cannot buy pet food and indeed some people actually live off dog food. All of this in one of the most well-endowed countries on Earth.
Mr Pratt is simply wrong about the strongman tradition in Venezuela. Before the election of Hugo Chavez in 1998, there had been no military strongman in Venezuela since the fall of Marcos Pérez Jimenez in 1958. While Hugo Chavez was fairly elected in 1998, he proceeded to trash democratic institutions, and his successor, Nicolás Maduro, has no legitimacy. Given that there is no legal president, the appointment of Guaidó as interim president pending free elections is entirely legitimate as provided under Venezuelan Constitution Article 233. There has been no “coup” in Venezuela.
Let us just catalogue what the Chavista revolution has done to Venezuela and let your readers decide who are the “bad guys”. Chavez/Maduro bitterly divided the country, destroyed any respect for the rule of law (which in turn destroyed business), corrupted the electoral system, enriched themselves and their cronies, utterly ruined the currency, imported Cubans to help control the country, destroyed what was as one of the greatest oil companies in the world (PDVSA) and caused the collapse of Venezuelan oil production. Uncontrolled crime now makes Venezuela one of the most dangerous places on Earth. To cap that, they supported the poison of Islamic terrorism and the Communist subversion. However, if Venezuela ever had an “immigration problem” then they cured it, as no-one in their right mind would ever go the Venezuela that now is. Additionally, the “Maduro diet” has solved any obesity crisis that Venezuela ever had (it does not seem to help Maduro himself).
Yes, Mr Pratt, we certainly should pay close attention to those who are shouting about a “coup”. Well, we have on Maduro’s side: Cuba, Russia, China, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah. Maduro’s supporters have contempt for liberty and freedom of expression. On the other side, we find the USA, Canada, most of the Latin American countries, the EU Parliament, the UK, France, Germany and the SNP. The “good guys” I think are fairly obvious?
Liliana
via email
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel