Venezuela is toast

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Desperate Women Fleeing Venezuela Sell Hair, Breast Milk, Sex To Get By


Venezuela is spinning out of control.
Via Fox News:

CUCUTA, Colombia – Although the sun has barely risen, this border city with Venezuela is already bursting with chaos.
Thousands upon thousands of Venezuelans pour into Colombia over the crowd cross-country bridge, their faces gaunt, carrying little more than a backpack. Rail-thin women cradle their tiny babies, and beg along the trash-strewn gutters. Teens hawk everything from cigarettes to sweets and water for small change.
The young, the old and the disabled cluster around the lone Western Union office – recently established to deal with the Venezuelan influx – in the hopes of receiving or sending a few dollars to send home. Without passports or work permits, the Venezuelans – many with university degrees or decent jobs in what was once the wealthiest nation in Latin America – are now resorting to whatever it takes to survive.
“Hair, looking for hair,” an older man choruses through the crowd, turning to a group of women clutching their small children. Another man nearby holds a sign, “we buy hair.” More and more girls and women are turning to the cut the make ends meet, and feed their families for a few days.
Women sell their locks to local wigmakers in Colombia for around $10-30, depending on length and quality. Other women sell their bodies. Girls as young as 14 line the Cucuta streets available “for hire,” earning around seven dollars “per service.”
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IMF: Inflation in Venezuela to Hit 1.4 Million Percent Before End of Year

https://www.breitbart.com/latin-amer...fore-end-year/

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Tom Phillips in Mexico City and Mariana Zúñiga in Caracas
Fri 11 Jan 2019 16.30 EST Last modified on Fri 11 Jan 2019 17.31 EST

he head of Venezuela’s opposition-run parliament has thrown down the gauntlet to his country’s embattled leader, Nicolás Maduro, declaring himself ready to assume the presidency, in a rare and potentially destabilizing challenge to two decades of Bolivarian rule.


Maduro starts new Venezuela term by accusing US of imperialist 'world war'






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Juan Guaidó told a rally in Caracas that Maduro – who began his second six-year term as president on Thursday amid a tempest of international condemnation – was an illegitimate “usurper”.
The 35-year-old politician claimed that he therefore had the constitutional right to assume leadership of the country until fresh elections were held.
“We are going to change things in Venezuela,” Guaidó told hundreds of cheering supporters in a speech he called his “declaration to the Venezuelan people”.
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“We aren’t victims. We are survivors ... and we will lead this country towards the glory it deserves,” Guaidó added, calling on the people, the international community and, crucially, Venezuela’s armed forces to support him.
Guaidó, who became president of Venezuela’s national assembly last week, admitted there were no “magic solutions” to an economic crisis fuelling what the UN calls one of the greatest exoduses in Latin American history.
But he called a day of nationwide demonstrations for 23 January to intensify pressure on Maduro before concluding by shouting the rallying cry: “People of Venezuela: can we, or can’t we?” “¡Sí, se puede!” the crowd roared back. “Yes we can!”
The opposition took control of the national assembly in 2015 although it was effectively neutered by Maduro’s controversial creation of a constituent assembly in 2017 that sparked deadly protests.
People protest Nicolás Maduro’s government in Caracas, Venezuela on 11 January. Photograph: Miguel Gutiérrez/EPA Yesiret Méndez, a 20-year-old student who was in the crowd, said she had come to hear Guaidó’s plan for the future: “And I’m ready to take to the streets again if necessary.”

Carmen de Jesús, 70, said she hoped Guaidó would be able to take control. “Madur is usurping the power and the president of the national assembly should take over as an interim president.”

There was international support for the move too, with the head of the Organisation of American States tweeting: “We welcome the assumption of @jguaido as interim President of #Venezuela in accordance with Article 233 of the Political Constitution. You have our support, that of the international community and of the people of Venezuela #OEAconVzla.”
But there was also apprehension Guaidó’s audacious move might backfire, triggering a renewed crackdown on regime opponents.
“It’s almost certainly going to generate some sort of response from the government,” said David Smilde, a Venezuela expert from the Washington Office on Latin America advocacy group.
“They could dissolve [the national assembly] … or they could try and arrest opposition leaders or Guaidó.”
Addressing a sympathetic audience of Latin American leftists on Friday afternoon, Maduro mocked his challenger, claiming most Venezuelans did not even know who he was. “It is a show … a Hollywood-esque show,” Maduro said, adding: “The Venezuelan right is hopeless.”
Venezuela’s chavista prison minister, María Iris Varela Rangel, tweeted a more sinister message: “Guaidó, I’ve already prepared your cell and your uniform, I hope you name your cabinet quickly so I know who is going down with you.”
Smilde said Guaidó’s unexpectedly bold challenge to Maduro was a tactic the most radical members of Venezuela’s opposition had been pushing for. “But the problem with that is that they have no actual real power: they don’t control the institutions, they don’t control the guns and they don’t control the money.”
One Guaidó ally told the energy news agency Argus Media he was aware of the “life-threatening” risks of his statement: “[But] keeping silent and not invoking the constitution’s authority to strip Maduro of his executive powers would have been a surrender to the dictatorial status quo and would have buried any chance of restoring democracy for years to come.”

[Rhodie]

Defending a Venezuelan Homestead: “Eventually people will come for what you have” https://www.theorganicprepper.com/defending-homestead-venezuela/

Note from Daisy: If you aren’t aware, a short time before the collapse became evident, the Venezuelan government confiscated all the guns from people. This left the population disarmed and vulnerable. In this article, Jose discusses some of the very real dangers of being at a rural homestead and ways to defend yourself if you do not have a gun. by J.G. Martinez D.

My cousins there in the open country of Venezuela tell me that nights are dark. The government cut the power, and hungry people use this to go to the farms and see what they can steal.

Don’t rely on your elaborate systems too much.
I must tell you that those who rely on power and water off-the-grid, are wrong. Use it while you have it, but plan for when it stops. You will not be able to get supplies for your systems. Oversize your systems; use industrial and heavy duty equipment. If you can afford buying some additional meters of extra pipe and have storage space, do it. It won´t rot and can be very useful. Design with time. Learn to get pleasure customizing your designs, and discuss it with your family and like-minded friends over a couple of beers. I used to do this with my dad and we both enjoyed it a lot. I miss him.

The quality of the tap water is……similar to what you could get in a third-world nation. Not surprising. Therefore, I would not recommend you tie yourself to replaceable filters. Use the kind of filter that could be cleaned properly with a hard brush if needed. I would invest in UV lamps for the sterilizer and direct the money to a good quality battery pack.

A crossbow is a fine investment
I mention this because, on my wish list back in the homeland, there was a good, simple, and robust crossbow with a sight and a night vision scope. Maybe even three or four would be better, just in case. Use a tall tree for a camouflaged surveillance post, and leave the crossbow there with enough arrows to make a real mess in a roving band.

Don’t get rid of that smartphone just yet, even if you have no service. Just invest in a good waterproof case and an IR heat tracing device that you may fix to it, perhaps a new battery, and you will have a wonderful device for night-watching that should last for a few years if cared for properly.
If you are skilled enough, I would suggest you try to make your own crossbow and arrows. I am not especially gifted for handcrafting, but if I have to repair my crossbow and my life and my beloved ones’ lives depend on that… you get it.

A simple sheet of 3-4mm or thinner steel will give you plenty of tips. You can store them also, and they are cheap, too. Oil them and they won’t rust. So making your own even if you are a couch potato (like me, sometimes, at least LOL) will provide you with an additional edge. No thief that is trespassing on your property at night is aware that an arrow will cross the night silently to get stuck in a tree one or 2 meters away from their chest. It should work as a deterrent, and a very good one. Worst case scenario, this will make them much more aggressive the next time they decide to trespass, and you should be prepared to respond accordingly.

Eventually, people will come for what you have. This is no joke.
There could be a lot of people, even people you know. They will have watched what you have, or what they think you have, and sure as heck they have had time to plan, and decide. Among them, it is very likely that you could have met them in a nearby town, and even had some light chat. I know that some farms have been attacked after some intel has been collected.

This is not uncommon. It happens in places like Colombia all the time, where rich coffee farmers suffer kidnappings and stuff. It’s only a matter of time until Crime Inc. (Castro’s maybe?) decided to “export” their modus operandi to Venezuela.

Chances are that after the first successful trespassing, next time they decide to get a little more. The only possible defense against this… is numbers and silent, dangerous long distance weapons that don’t use powder and are untraceable.
I have been informed of people in numbers of 12, 15, or even 20 persons storming a place.

The invaders don´t need other weapons for this if their gang is big enough: stones and sticks are enough. Young, hungry, but still strong, they will come at night, take what they can. Oh, and remember, this is the Caribbean tropics, so they have very sharp machetes. And being country laborers and workers, they know how to swing them pretty well. Something to consider.

If you have numbers enough, and a silent alarm system is in place, drills have been done… a small compound can make a mess of a decent amount of night attackers. The most dangerous approach someone can do, is going at someone’s door in the middle of the night. Even in regular times, it is something very stupid to do, because good people don’t come at night.

The real problem comes afterwards.
It’s not like the movies. You repel the attack, the guys run leaving behind trails of blood and stuff. You still have to live THERE. Perhaps with women, elders, children, perhaps someone ill, injured or disabled – and now there are a good number of “neighbors” (the bad kind) all p***ed off and humiliated.
Because that is how the criminal thinks: if someone stops them, they FEEL humiliation. This makes them angry. This makes them even more dangerous.

They have plenty of time to plan another attack, though.

What you can do to avoid it, is something that everyone has to resolve on their own. I would leave some stuff in their path, something enough for them to consider a success. Next time, they would find something less…with a note. Perhaps some crossed long bones that mimic human ones or something creative.

Let’s say 20 persons, 5 of them with edged weapons, and your defense line is just 7 persons, including perhaps some teenagers that can’t re-cock the crossbow. Using 3 crossbows for each person, the attack can be avoided. It is going to be a mess, but you will survive to tell the story. If just 3 of the 7 men (or women, or grandpa/grandma) of the defense team can re-cock a couple of crossbows for the younger, it is a very good tactical advantage. Go with a very simple cocking mechanism, and make sure the cords used are abundant, and perhaps even able to be hand made with ancient techniques.

Why do I write about this now?
Because these are the types of things some of my extended family still there are facing. Their protein intake has become much lower because the roving bands are desperately looking for meat and poultry. If things go so bad that one is able to get into the property of someone they know face to face, in the middle of the night, and with a sharpened machete… it should not be so difficult to shoot an arrow, if your kids are in the panic room shaking in fear, don’t you think? Use some light armor, provided some of your members are young, and agile (not like me), and get closer than what you need.

This is why I identified those IR devices as being very useful for this kind of night operation. They could even record some footage for further investigation if some kind of law enforcement team is operating.

I designed all of this after contacting them and asking them how things are around their place: a farmer’s town where everyone used to know each other.
Less than 2000 population. Peaceful and quiet. Until now.

People will do anything to survive.

We have to be ready for that, not just in our equipment selection. In our minds. (# 1)
A bad choice is something that we will have to face for the rest of our lives. I know.

Rhodie, If you have to take the life of a bad guy, to save one of your loved one, That choice you can live with. I know!!!
To do nothing and a loved one dies, is not a choice you want to live with the rest of your life.

[Lenno]

How Gun Control Became an Instrument of Tyranny in Venezuela

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Tags Big GovernmentSocialismThe Police State

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01/16/2019José Niño
Is Venezuela paying the price for adopting gun control?
The shocking nature of Venezuela’s economic collapse has been covered ad nauseam. However, one aspect of the Venezuelan crisis that does not receive much coverage is the country’s gun control regime.
Fox News recently published an excellent article highlighting Venezuelan citizens’ regret over the gun control policies the Venezuelan government has implemented since 2012. Naturally, this regret is warranted. The Venezuelan government is among the most tyrannical in the world, with a proven track record of violating basic civil liberties such as free speech, debasing its national currency, confiscating private property, and creating economic controls that destroy the country’s productivity.
Elections have proven to be useless, as they’ve been mired with corruption and charges of government tampering. For many, taking up arms is the only option left for the country to shake off its tyrannical government. However, the Venezuelan government has done well to prevent an uprising by passing draconian gun control which will be detailed below.
Venezuela’s Lack of a Second Amendment Tradition

Historically speaking, Venezuela has never had a robust history of private gun ownership like that of the United States. The absence of a Second Amendment or check on the federal government’s monopoly on firearm usage is a vestige of its colonial legacy. Its Spanish colonial overlords did not possess a political culture of civilian firearms ownership. It was mostly the military and the landed nobility that held firearms throughout the colonial era. This tradition has persisted even after Latin American countries broke away from Spain in the 1820s.
Fast forward to the 20th century, Venezuela began its first attempts to modernize its gun policy. In 1939, the Venezuelan government enacted the Law on Arms and Explosives (Ley de Armas y Explosivos) which established the Venezuelan state’s monopoly on firearm usage. The state was the only entity that could possess “weapons of war” which include: canons, rifles, mortars, machine guns, sub-machine guns, carbines, pistols, and revolvers. Civilians could only possess .22 rifles and shotguns, and in certain circumstances could possess handguns provided that they obtained a license.
Progressive Ideas Role in Consolidating Venezuelan Statism

Ideas matter.
It’s no surprise that Venezuela embarked on this gun control escapade during the late 1930s. This was a period where statism was in vogue throughout the world as witnessed with the rise of Fascism and Communism in Europe. Even during the New Deal era, the US initiated its first foray into federal gun control with the passage of the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934. Despite its anti-gun policies, Venezuela at least maintained some semblance of limited government in economic affairs up until the 1970s.
However, the nationalization of its oil industry in the 1970s and the subsequent economic downturns of the 1980s and 1990s shook up Venezuela’s institutional foundations. The country was then ripe for a demagogic takeover.
Hugo Chavez’s Anti-Gun Agenda

When socialist strongman Hugo Chávez took power, not only was Venezuela’s previous gun control order kept intact, but it was also expanded upon. Article 324 of Venezuela’s current Constitution (the 26th in its history) maintained the State’s previous monopoly on firearms and placed the National Armed Forces of Venezuela as the entity in charge of regulating all firearms in Venezuela.
In 2002, the Venezuelan government passed the first version of the Control of Arms, Munitions and Disarmament Law, reinforcing the state’s iron grip on firearms in Venezuela. A decade later, the law was modified to enhance the scope of gun control and gave the Venezuelan Armed Forces exclusive power to control, register, and potentially confiscate firearms.
Under the banner of fighting crime, Venezuela implemented a ban on the sale of firearms and ammo in 2012. Like other gun bans, this proved futile in fighting crime. According to the Venezuelan Violence Observatory’s statistics, Venezuela’s murder rate increased from 73 murders per 100,000 people in 2012 to 91.8 murders per 100,000 people in 2016.
Gun Control: Turning Citizens into Disarmed Subjects

Venezuelans are now defenseless against a government that runs roughshod over their civil liberties, while also destroying their economic livelihood. As if it weren’t enough, everyday Venezuelans must put up with rampant crime and the constant threat of colectivos, Venezuela’s infamous pro-government paramilitary units.
Although gun control in and of itself does not automatically lead to tyranny, historical events remind us that well-intentioned interventions from previous governments can be used by the next round of political operatives for nefarious purposes. Firearms bans, confiscation, and registration give the state a virtual monopoly on violence, thus turning its citizens into defenseless subjects. When the rubber meets the road, a disarmed populace has no chance against a well-armed Leviathan.
Foreigners may scoff at the US’s Second Amendment, but it is one of the most far-reaching rights the framers of the Constitution made sure to protect. Political turmoil can emerge at any time and citizens must have a final means of protecting themselves in the case that all institutional options have been exhausted.

Jose Nino is a Venezuelan-American political activist based in Fort Collins, Colorado. Contact: twitter or email him here.

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Venezuela Puts Down Mutiny By National Guard Unit

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Winter of Rage-in Venezuela
Thousands Flood Streets of Venezuela’s Major Cities Demanding End to Socialist Regime

319YURI CORTEZ/AFP/Getty Images23 Jan 2019696
4:50

Thousands of Venezuelans took the streets on Wednesday – the anniversary of the establishment of democracy in the country in 1958 – to call for an end to the socialist regime of Nicolás Maduro and the restoration of the democratic order.

Photos and videos of streets flooded with protesters throughout the country, from the capital Caracas to far-west Táchira province, began to surface on social media early Wednesday afternoon as attendees began to congregate. At press time, the protests remain ongoing, so no statistics on the number of protesters in each city are available.
Juan Guaidó, the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, organized the protests. The National Assembly, which Maduro does not recognize, is the only remaining democratically elected institution in the country. Maduro attempted to illegally erase the legislature with the creation of a “national constituent assembly” to write laws, made up exclusively of members of Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and Maduro family members, including his wife and son.