Venezuela, as is the case with many other nations in Latin America, has been thrusted into the 21st century, still carrying the socio-economic baggage, poverty, illiteracy, and prejudices of two hundred years past. It is a common malady that most Latin American nations suffer, most of which became independent from Spain in the early and middle part of the 19th century, yet still blame Spain and the "white," "European," Spaniards, almost two hundred years later for all their ills and shortcomings, teaching it rhetorically in the classrooms of their schools, enacting public protests in their Plazas on Columbus Day October 12th still condemning the"Conquistadores," having a societal ingrained hatred of all white people, whom they associate with the Spaniards - just look at the signs we saw during the recent pro-illegal immigration rallies in our own streets: "This is the Bronze Continent." or "The Europeans are the real illegal aliens since 1492" or "The border crossed us, we didn't cross the borders"! Sadly, in their 18th century mind-set, they are still throwing off the yoke of the Spaniards in their minds, and blaming the "white man" for all their woes, even though it's been almost two hundred years since, and most Latin American nations have been countries for far longer than many prosperous and advanced European nations have!!!

It ironically could all be best summed up with the phrase used by Colombian Nobel Prize winning novelist Gabriel Garcia Márquez in the title of his novel "Cien Años de Soledad" - "One Hundred Years of Solitude" - which phrase best describes the isolation and backwardness that most of these countries south of the border have been bogged-in since their independence from Spain, in the backwaters of civilization!

While the prairies of America were being homesteaded and colonized to soon become the bread basket of the world, with immigrants pouring in, bringing fresh blood and hopes of a better life to the continent, and in the northern hemisphere, in America and Europe, the industrial revolution flourished, bringing about unprecedented advances in technology, wealth, and standards of living for those nations; in Latin America, the Oligarchical system of governance by a few rich families, and the traditional indigenous customs, biases, and prejudices, coupled with illiteracy and ignorance, persisted, along with their backward subsistence agricultural societies, well into the 20th century!

When the information explosion of the 20th and 21st centuries reached these countries, that isolation abruptly ended, making the populations of these countries painfully aware of the huge gap that exists between the poverty, illiteracy, and backwardness of their conditions, to the affluence, prosperity, and creature comforts enjoyed by those of the United States and Europe. This in turn, combined with America's predominance in the world, has fueled a lot of envy, resentment, and hatred of America. But having experienced it first hand, this resentment also extends, to a lesser extent, to anyone who happens to be Caucasian, even those who speak Spanish like them, whom they will refer to derogatorily to as "El Español" no doubt identifying them with their ancient Spaniard nemeses in their minds!

After centuries of mis-governance, Oligarchies, and tin-pot dictatorships, the divide between the "haves" and the "have nots" is still a "spear sticking out of the side" of many Latin American countries, as they would say. However, before the take-over by Hugo Chávez , Venezuela was well on its way to being one of the countries in the region where the most progress was been made to bridge that gap in spite of the prevailing 85% poverty rate of its population, and Caracas was fast becoming more like any European capital. And in spite of all the poverty, and of the daunting challenges that faced the nation, at least Venezuelans had "Freedom of the Press," and "Freedom of Speech." Now with Chávez both are gone!!!

This "jabao resentido" undoubtedly scarred in his youth by abject poverty and privation, rose through the ranks of the Venezuelan Army hungry for power and social vengeance! Taking advantage of the prevailing poverty, he riled the poverty stricken rabble of Venezuela, in order to gain power through democratic elections, however, as soon as he came to power, he began to systematically suppress the opposition, and curtail civil liberties!

Now gangs of Castro's G-2 Intelligence Service trained thugs roam the streets and the "barrios" of Caracas and other Venezuelan cities, enforcing Chávez's "Revolución Bolivariana," by force and intimidation, upon the people! Anyone who dissents disappears, or are dealt with in a savagely brutal manner! And this is the friend of the "down-trodden" when he himself "trods" on the human rights and the civil liberties of those Venezuelans who oppose him?!?! Tell that to "Human Rights Watch" and see if they denounce it as vehemently as they protect the rights of terrorists!!!

Now, as Professor Waller pointed out, Chávez even wants to do away with the Venezuelan Constitution, in order to extend indefinitely his iron grip on power, and be able to proceed to turn Venezuela into a cookie-cutter replica of his hero Castro's failed "Revolution," while having "brought in the Cuban Intelligence Service to take over his country, and run his security detail", obviously not trusting his fellow Venezuelans with his own safety!

But unfortunately, I have seen all this before, and this is nothing new to me. Having been a witness in my youth, to all that my Father, Grandfather, and our whole family suffered and endured at the hands of Castro's "blessed" Marxist, Communist, "Revolution" in Cuba, I feel that I am pre-eminently qualified to speak of what I saw and experienced in the unbiased innocence of my childhood, versus the ideologically tainted opinions of those such as Ms. Fania, who only relate to such experiences by propaganda: tracts, books and documentaries, which amount to nothing more than hear-say!

I remember my Father, who is of slight built, having to haul up with sweat and blood, bucket after bucket of water to our second story apartment on Ursula Street in Cuba every day, from a fire hydrant at the corner, where water was available only for one hour a day- between 8:AM and 9:AM - because Castro's Marxist, "Socialist," Revolution for "the poor" turned into a nightmare of revenge, mismanagement, and outright incompetency, where the infrastructure of Cuba was neglected and destroyed on account of other "Socialist Objectives" such a "indoctrination," and foreign "Revolutionary" expeditionary forages into South America and Africa, in Fidel's sorry-assed parody of Napoleonic-wannabe conquest and war-mongering!

Before the revolution, plentiful, safe to drink water had been a given, taken for granted, flowing out our sinks and showers, and from our spigots freely, yet, Castro's "Glorious Revolution" destroyed Cuba's infrastructure to the point that it became a "luxury," just as with electricity, and all other public services!!!

I remember going with my Grandfather to the same bakery he had taken me to since I was a toddler, and finding it empty of all the French Pastries and the sweets I used to love so much; and my Grandfather having to get up at 3:AM to stand in a line two blocks long, in the hopes of being able to buy a frigging loaf of bread before it would ran-out after the bakery opened up at 6:AM!!!

I know first hand Castro's deceitful, murderous "Revolution"! In recalling it, I am not influenced by any "ideology" but only by what I experienced first hand, and by what I saw with my own two eyes, that is why when I hear the same archaic Marxist rhetoric I had so often to endure in those days at school, coming from someone like Ms. Natalee Fania, it makes me seeth with rage and indignation!!!

Just as with his mentor Castro in Cuba, what this madman Chávez is doing, is further sinking Venezuela into a totalitarian nightmare of repression, human suffering, privation, and poverty!

The best minds of Venezuela: the best academicians, artists, business entrepreneurs, bankers, craftsmen; all who have the best to offer Venezuela are fleeing the country in droves! Many fleeing the repression; others the worsening economic and societal conditions; all vehemently opposed to Hugo Chávez's dictatorship! And those that have remained behind, are been silenced by force! As a result, Venezuela is been culturally impoverished!

The same happened with Cuba, when those who were the best of what Cuba had to offer, were forced to emigrate to the U.S. by Castro's brutal revolution. It is they, who with their toil and effort, have turned South Florida, and the once small, sleepy, winter getaway town of Miami, into a vibrant world-class metropolis, and a center of commerce, international banking, culture, and the arts! While the beautiful, once affluent and prosperous island, "The Pearl of the Antilles," playground of Hollywood Actors and of the Rich and Famous, which had a rich ethnic and cultural diversity, has been sadly morphed into an almost unrecognizable shadow of its former self: into but a "Third World" country of impoverished blacks and mulattoes, more reminiscent of Haiti or some African nation than of the Cuba that once was! Inevitably, something similar will be the end result of Chávez's "Bolivarian Revolution" if he's not stopped! As much as this cretin Hugo Chávez wishes to emulate Fidel and his "Communist Paradise" Venezuelan's should take a good look at Cuba, and take heed of the end results!!!

As to Chávez's final comments in his unsavory, crude, vulgar performance at the U.N., a phrase he used, reminds me of the demonstrations I used to witness on television as a child, that took place in Habana, and other Latin American capitals during the 60s, with people rabidly chanting: "Yankees Go Home, Yankees Go Home"!

With the passing years, and in light of the present demographic invasion by illegal immigrants pouring over our southern border that we are experiencing, it is poignantly clear that what the majority of those chanting "Yankees Go Home" wanted in their hearts of hearts, was to "Go Home With The Yankees" and now we have them by the millions illegally dwelling amongst us!!! Isn't that ironic Mr. Chávez ?!?! Perhaps you should take note of that... and by the way, us "Yankees" will go home, but you sir, GO TO HELL!!!

Cross posted from Hyscience