Editorial: Caracas running on empty

By Herald Staff9 hours ago

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez may have departed this earth but his legacy of corruption and economic devastation linger on via his handpicked successor, Nicolas Maduro.

Now the Caracas government headed by the former bus driver is falling apart at the seams and he knows only one way to remain in power - more repression.

The mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma, has been jailed and accused of plotting to overthrow Maduro. Opposition leaders are routinely jailed on similar charges. An opposition congressman, Julio Borges, has been stripped of his immunity and, therefore, likely also waits for that knock on the door.

And the good people of Venezuela have indeed taken to the streets in protest not just because of such abuses of power but because out of control inflation has impoverished nearly everyone and even basic commodities are scarce. Yes, this oil rich nation is running on empty.

But now the losses can be measured in lives. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that in San Cristobal in the western part of the country at least 43 people have been killed during street demonstrations, including most recently a 14-year-old boy shot in the head by police with a rubber bullet at point-blank range. The government's own human rights ombudsman, Tarek William Saab, called the killing a "vile assassination."

But a new regulation passed by the Maduro-controlled government permits the use of lethal force against protesters if security forces feel "threatened." And apparently the guys with the guns are feeling very threatened by boys armed with picket signs.

So while protesters are gunned down in the streets and Venezuela burns, President Obama continues to fiddle. He fiddles with the Keystone XL pipeline - why ease the way for oil from Canada when we can buy from thugs like Maduro? And he fiddles with the brothers Castro, which can only give encouragement to their ideological twin now ruling in Caracas.