Venezuela’s President and dictator Nicholas Maduro has admitted that their economy is in tatters – but don’t get excited that they’ll be renouncing socialism any time soon.
For a long time, Maduro had resorted to conspiracy to explain his country’s plundering economy, blaming America, or Venezuelan capitalists supposedly sabotaging the economy to make socialism look bad. There’s actually a conspiracy in Venezuela that a secretive group of capitalists is buying up all the food in the country to make it look like they’re suffering food shortages. Not only would that logistically be impossible, it highlights just how desperate socialists are to ignore the reality that their ideas have failed for the millionth time.
“Production models that we have tried so far have failed, and the responsibility lies with us, with me. We now must move forward the economic power that we possess,” Maduro said. “Does imperialism attack us? Enough of whining. I do not whine… Yes, and let it attack us. Our job is to produce, with aggression or without it,” he continued.
Don’t get too excited yet. Rather than start to scale back the government’s tentacles on their nation’s economy, Maduro is instead going to double down, attempting to do “socialism right” (as if there’s such a thing). Speaking at Hotel Alba Caracas, Maduro said the nation will “continue on the path to socialism” – or in other words, further expanding the government’s role over the few parts of the economy they don’t already control.
“I estimate it will take about two years to reach a high level of stability and see the first symptoms of new and economic prosperity, without for one second affecting social security and protection,” added the president. Unfortunately, in a country where the average citizen lost 19 pounds in 2017, the public doesn’t have two years to wait.
Most of Maduro’s plan will center around increasing oil production to fund his socialist pipe dream. Ironically, it’s socialism that destroyed Venezuela’s oil industry in the first place. Hugo Chavez decided to nationalize the nation’s oil industry, and the nation’s largest firm, PDVSA, in the early 2000s. After workers went on strike, Maduro fired 20,000 of them (half PDVSA’s labor force), and 80% of their top management, including engineers and the firm’s research arm.
While PDVSA produced 3 million barrels of oil a day before being taken over, they now average only 2 million a day. And here’s the kicker – their workforce exploded from 40,000 employees the pre-nationalization to an incredible 150,000 employees today. As it turns out, Maduro packing an oil firm with those friendly to him politically has proven far less efficient than employing those who understand the oil industry. Venezuela also invests less than half as much money into their oil infrastructure every year than they’d need to simply maintain it. It’s common for socialist and communist countries to shun away innovation and research, as it’s seen as taking him away from production.
Maduro’s plan is centering around his nation’s cash cow, oil, but that hasn’t been enough to sustain socialism. What makes him think it’ll be able to sustain even more socialism?
But what do I know? Maybe they’ll finally get socialism right this time. (RELATED: ReasonTV Explains How Socialism Destroyed Venezuela).
Though if history is any guide, I won’t hold my breath.
