Submitted by John Farmer
How many times have I heard those words spoken? Then the person who I have been speaking with goes on to qualify his/her statement. “Here in Barbados, we have one of the highest literacy rates in the world. We have the third oldest parliamentary system in the Commonwealth with a democratic governmental system almost four hundred years old. Also Barbados has a good education system plus a good Justice system. It is impossible for that to happen here!” Have you not heard these words spoken before?
I heard these same words uttered by Venezuelans just 15 years ago. At that time their democratic form of government was the longest surviving democracy in South America, a mere forty years of existence, but still the longest lasting democracy at that time in South America. Their primary and secondary education was good and they had many excellent Universities, with Simon Bolivar University rated one of the four top universities in the whole of South America. All education was free and on a scale of meritocracy the top students were selected by the top Universities, but they could apply to any university of their choice.
The Justice system was by written law rather than law decided by Jury. It is still so today. Fifteen years ago in Venezuela, after forty years of democracy there was still a very large economic gap separating the rich and the poor, but the middle class was starting to grow. There was a high unemployment rate, but much of this was made up of people who really did not care about working plus illegal immigrants from other South American countries. There certainly was no food shortage and the supermarket shelves and Bodegas (small shops) were full of items. Please remember in those days, only a short fifteen years ago, Venezuela produced 80% of its food consumption. Today it produces 20% – what a great Bolivarian revolutionary achievement! Fifteen years ago it produced 3.2 million barrels of oil per day – now it is producing 2.6 million barrels of oil per day or less. Another wondrous Chavez/Maduro revolutionary achievement. However, just fifteen years ago Venezuela had Freedom, including freedom of speech which no longer exists there. Freedom of the press and news media; these are now censored. Freedom of travel has become now very difficult. Freedom to purchase foreign currency for example dollars; almost impossible to do so now, except on the black market where the cost of one dollar is about 700% more than the fixed rate. Freedom to buy or sell your property, now government controlled.
However, let’s get back to, IT CAN”T HAPPEN HERE!
When people here in Barbados are making this statement they think only about losing their democracy and stability the country offers them. They don’t give the slightest thought to losing their freedom. Neither did I, until I learned how easily this most precious and important human right can be taken away from you by a manipulative government acting under the guise of democracy, but ruling authoritatively , its president having absolute power, because of a biased and carefully selected supreme court, plus a well greased armed force.
When a country finds itself in a crisis or a vulnerable economic situation, many forces and persons with a political or more sinister agenda are looking to enter through the back door if it is not securely fastened. Did this not happen in the 1930’s with the fascist dictator Hitler? How did he leave his country? Wasn’t it destroyed and in complete economic Chaos? How did Stalin leave Russia? What has progressed in Cuba under the Castros’? And you know something, when these dictators destroy the country, rape the economy and everything is in shambles, that is when other sinister elements enter through the back door with an offer of a solution , propping up the regimen’s addiction to money and the good life they have become accustomed to while the more unfortunate citizens are now not only subservient to the regime , but also to the other elements. This is what is happening in Venezuela right now. Venezuelans, living in a country with the largest estimated oil reserves in the world, but has just been ranked in the 130th position out of 132 countries on the rating index given by the non-profit group of social progress imperative.
Just ask yourself who really is controlling Venezuela? Think for a while and the answer will come to you. Don’t neglect what is happening in Venezuela for these problems are right at our backdoor.
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