We like to think that progress is irreversible. We look at our roads and supermarkets and hospitals and while we know that everything could be better, we rarely worry it will all collapse. Unhappily, right now Venezuela is proving that all of this can suddenly disappear, and it’s frightening.
The country is falling apart, rapidly and completely. By many measures, it is one of the most blessed nations in the Americas. It has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, almost twice Canada’s. It has rich agricultural land, incredible biodiversity and huge amounts of mineral wealth. And yet its people are now starving; its infrastructure is in tatters; law and order have broken down. And strangely, Canada doesn’t appear to care.
Although the issues have been widely reported, the lack of interest is probably wider than Canada. It's just a guess on my part, but I don't think anyone else cares much either. Venezuelans appear to have brought this on themselves. The richest person in Venezuela seems to be a daughter of Hugo Chavez. Isn't that a surprise?
Maria Gabriela Chavez, 35, the late president's second-oldest daughter, holds assets in American and Andorran banks totaling almost $4.2billion.
Maria Gabriela Chavez, 35, the late president's second-oldest daughter, holds assets in American and Andorran banks totaling almost $4.2billion.
2 comments:
In the history of major crashes of this kind there are many and various. What is common is that after the event when the reasons become clear all to often it is because people simply would not accept or understand the risks they were creating and the potential consequences of their actions. One reason for that is usually greed on the part of the relevant elites.
Demetrius - it seems to be greed and a vastly overblown faith in power and what power can achieve.
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