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Surgical Neurology International

Editor-in-Chief: Nancy E. Epstein, MD, NYU Winthrop Hospital, Mineola, NY, USA.
SNI: Socio-Economics, Politics, and Medicine Editor
 James A Ausman, MD, PhD
 University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Open Access

Editorial

The devastating Venezuelan crisis

A. Venezuelan, James Ausman
James I and Carolyn R. Ausman Educational Foundation, Surgical Neurology International, Rancho Mirage, CA, United States.

E-mail: A. Venezuelan - [email protected]; *James Ausman - [email protected]

*Corresponding author:
James I. Ausman, MD, PhD, ABSTRACT
James I and Carolyn R. Ausman
Educational Foundation, The Venezuelan crisis is filling the headlines and truly deserves the world’s attention. It is a wake-up call to all as it
70950 Fairway Drive, Rancho holds relevant lessons for both developing and developed countries. The country suffers a severe humanitarian crisis.
Its economy has declined at a faster pace than any other peacetime economy worldwide. Hardship and repression
Mirage, CA 92270, USA.
have led millions to flee the country creating a refugee crisis in Colombia and other neighboring countries, and
[email protected] millions more are expected to flee unless conditions improve. It raises serious security concerns in the whole Western
Hemisphere. The country of Venezuela sits on and owns the largest oil reserves in the world. Oil helps explain the
“rent-seeking” behavior that is at the root of this crisis. (“Rent-seeking” is simply getting money from the government
Received : 05 June 19
for the oil it sells and giving little or nothing back to the government in return. -EEd) However, oil cannot be blamed
Accepted : 05 June 19
for this crisis – it helped Venezuela get out of the poverty trap and become a modern democratic society in the
Published : 26 July 19 20th century. This crisis comes from the perverse combination of bad politics, bad policy, and corruption that besieged
the country over the last 20 years. Since he was elected in 1998, Hugo Chávez paved the way to authoritarianism while
DOI making the economy more vulnerable to the ups and downs of oil prices. Chávez died in early 2013. When Nicolás
10.25259/SNI_342_2019 Maduro, his anointed heir, was elected to succeed him, the economy was in bad shape and institutions were already
weak, but problems had been papered over thanks to high oil prices and the money the government made from its
Quick Response Code: sale. When oil prices were high worldwide, Venezuelan governments did not save money for possible future economic
losses. When oil prices began falling in 2014 and threatened the money from “rent-seeking” by many Venezuelans,
Maduro chose the road to overt authoritarianism instead of seeking to restore the basics of an open society and a
prosperous economy: the rule of law, property rights, transparency, prudent fiscal and monetary policy, and essential
public goods such as education, health, housing, transportation, and infrastructure. This paper is a brief history of
how the present Crisis in Venezuela developed and how it can be reasonably resolved. The Venezuelan people are
suffering. There are lessons here for everyone in the world (A Venezuelan and James Ausman).

Keywords: Dictatorship failure, Health crisis, Humanitarian crisis, Immigration, Oil economy disaster, Solutions,
Starvation, Venezuela crisis

Emeritus Editor-In-Chief note

Surgical Neurology International (SNI) received this paper from A. Venezuelan who left Venezuela
and now lives in South America. The person was recommended to SNI as highly reliable. The
person is nameless to SNI. The text has been checked as factual. Miguel A. Faria, MD has described
this article as “better than I have read in the American and international media, including the
BBC.”
This Editorial is followed by comments made by Miguel A. Faria, M.D., an SNI Associate Editor-
in-Chief in socioeconomics, politics, medicine, and world affairs of SNI. He is the author of Cuba
in Revolution: Escape from a Lost Paradise (2002). His upcoming book is America, Guns, and
Freedom: A Journey into Politics and the Public Health and Gun Control Movements (2019). His

is is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 License, which allows others
to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
©2019 Published by Scientific Scholar on behalf of Surgical Neurology International

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 Venezuelan and Ausman: The devastating Venezuelan crisis

website is https://haciendapublishing.com. Dr. Faria escaped Some analysts find a parallel between Venezuela’s bankruptcy
from Cuba in the 1960s in its transition to a Castro controlled today and the Spanish bankruptcy of the 16th century. Spain
Communist country. He was educated as a neurosurgeon in wasted the gold and silver brought from the Americas on an
the USA and has been the Editor of two American medical unsuccessful imperial policy, on droves of entitled noblemen,
journals. and on the importation of manufactured goods. Venezuelan
petrodollars were spent similarly.
INTRODUCTION
AN OIL STORY
Without having gone through a war or a natural catastrophe,
Venezuela suffers a grave humanitarian crisis and the worst Venezuela has a century-long oil history and the largest
economic performance in the world, perhaps one of the oil reserves in the world: 360 billion barrels. Saudi Arabia
most serious in recent times. It comes from bad politics, bad is the second with 270 billion barrels. An unprecedented
policy, and corruption. Chávez and Maduro managed $1 bonanza due to high oil prices in 2004-2008 brought a
trillion in oil revenues over two decades, and the country is windfall of $300 billion to the country. The money was spent
in shambles. on consumption and on building international support for
the “Bolivarian Revolution” instead of investing in health,
Venezuela’s crisis is political, economic, and social. It worsens
education, infrastructure and modernization, and saving
at a dizzying speed and threatens to drag the country into
for future generations. After the oil price boom, Venezuela
a failed state chaos. Bold reforms are needed to steer the
emerged more vulnerable to the ups and downs of oil.
country out of its morass. Citizens must be empowered
through education and jobs instead of being kept subservient Hugo Chávez died in early 2013 and his anointed heir,
to government handouts. The government’s footprint in the Nicolás Maduro, took office. The collapse of oil prices in 2014
economy must shrink, and the administration must focus on shed light on the weaknesses of an economy where private
essential public goods: health care, education, security, and investment had been systematically destroyed. Maduro’s
infrastructure. The country must open the doors to private political footing eroded as living standards lavishly subsidized
investment with clear rules and legal protection, and embrace for over a decade turned into hardship. He chose the road to
modernity instead of trying to live off its hydrocarbon overt authoritarianism instead of seeking to restore the basics
resources with a short-term vision. Reforms can succeed, of an open society and a prosperous economy: the rule of law,
if implemented by new leadership with stable political property rights, transparency, prudent fiscal and monetary
standing, conviction, and strong international support. policy, and essential public goods such as education, health,
housing, transportation, and infrastructure.
Under Chávez, elected president in 1998, Venezuela came
to experience one of the worst cases of Dutch disease in the Short-termism and ignorance killed the golden goose.
world. (“Dutch disease is the rapid increase in the production Oil production fell from 3 million barrels a day in 1998
of raw materials [like oil and gas] causing a decline in – 1.5 million in 2017 and continues plunging. It may close
other sectors of the economy. When the raw materials run at 600,000 barrels a day by year-end. The depression in
out [or are not produced-EEd], the economy can be in a Venezuela has lasted for 5 years, its gross domestic product
worse position than before. T. Pittenger “Dutch Disease;” loss exceeds 50%, and the end is not yet in sight. In the Great
economicshelp.org; November 15, 2017) other countries in Depression, the U.S. economy shrank by 30% and lasted only
the world have undergone Dutch disease in the past. 3 years. Intense hyperinflation has impoverished Venezuelan
society since 2018: the annual inflation rate heads toward
The current crisis is rooted in Venezuela’s society’s effort
500,000% this year. In the past 20 years, 60% of the companies
to maintain its way of life with a short-term vision of
that existed in 1999 closed. The minimum wage is $3/month,
easy money. Venezuelans gave all the power to one man,
90% of the population is poor, and 15% of children are at risk
Hugo Chávez, who generated the illusion of prosperity
of dying from malnutrition.
through short-sighted populism and sank the country
into communism and lawlessness by abolishing property About 85% of medicines are scarce or utterly unavailable,
rights and the rule of law, by expanding the government’s while the number of people at risk rises. The vulnerable
footprint in the economy, by over-regulating whatever is population includes over 140,000 cancer patients, 300,000
left of a private sector, by destroying all institutions that with cardiological diseases, 300,000 chronic patients
are key to a civilized society, and by allowing corruption (i.e.,  Parkinson’s and hemophilia), and 79,000 people with
to contaminate all government’s functions. It is also the HIV, who stopped receiving treatment since 2016 or receive
story of the rise and decline of a revolution that went from it intermittently. More than one million cases of malaria
being applauded by many in the world to becoming an were reported in 2018, a disease eradicated in Venezuela in
illegitimate dictatorship. the 1940s. The shortage of medicines stems from foreign

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 Venezuelan and Ausman: The devastating Venezuelan crisis

exchange controls and corruption, and $6 billion owed Prudent fiscal and monetary policies prevalent in the first
by the government to pharmaceutical companies. Quality half of the 20th century gradually gave way to macroeconomic
control rules on medicines also eroded over time, allowing populism. The outcomes left people unhappy and distrustful.
poor quality medicines to enter the country. The lack of food The decline of rent-seeking capitalism in the 1980s was
makes things worse. traumatic. Incomplete market reforms in the 1990s failed
for lack of popular support. The people did not understand
Venezuela suffers one of the worst peacetime migratory crises
that it was impossible to get back the bonanza of the old
known in modern times, with 3 million migrants around the
days. A military organization, the Bolivarian Movement 200
world according to the United Nations High Commissioner
created by a group of military officers in 1983, decided to
for Refugees and the World Organization for Migration.
strike a blow and launched two military coups in 1992. They
Many have left on foot to neighboring countries, where they
failed to gain access to power, but Hugo Chávez, one of its
live in shelters or on the streets. This figure is in the ranks
most visible leaders, won considerable support.
of Afghanistan (2.5 million refugees), Syria (6 million), and
Colombia (almost 7 million internally displaced persons). Chávez won elections in 1998 offering the typical program
of a reformist nationalist military. In a carefully planned
The most recent electricity crisis is another example of the
sequence, between 1999 and 2006 he changed the
failure of central control. The national electricity system
constitution, reformed institutions, and got full control of
collapsed on March 7, 2019, after 15 years of mismanagement, the government and the media. He displaced the old political
underinvestment, and corruption. Successive nationwide class and replaced a watered-down version of “neoliberalism”
blackouts began on March 7 and left the country without with controls and multiple forms of state interventionism.
electricity, water, functioning hospitals, public transportation,
and communications critical for payment system operations. Initially, Chavismo was an alliance of left-  and right-wing
The government officially began to ration electricity a month politicians and intellectuals who shared “anti-system” views
later, limiting service everywhere except Caracas, the capital, since 1958, shunned neo-liberalism and, to varying degrees,
where it fears social unrest. Power outages are frequent and opposed representative democracy. The Chavista alliance
unpredictable, suggesting that the system is incapable of quickly moved to the left. The Cuba-Venezuela agreement
generating and distributing enough power to meet even was forged in 2000. A close friendship between Chávez and
post-rationing needs. The “new normal” implies electricity Fidel Castro led to the arrival of thousands of Cuban advisors
with interruptions, irregular supply of water, partial and who took over strategic government functions and ended up
unstable connectivity, lack of perishable food, reduced providing critical intelligence support to the government.
working hours, schools and businesses closed on and off by In 2001, Chávez was granted special powers to legislate
government decree, and a worsening health crisis. by decree. The land and oil reforms he enacted heralded
problems. The economy was far from improving, and people
felt disappointed. In late 2002, Chávez’s popularity had fallen
WHAT WENT WRONG?
to <30%. Two things came to his aid: the failed 2002 coup
Venezuela was the second largest oil producer in the world against him, and the boom in oil prices that began in 2004.
until 1960 when the Soviet Union displaced it, and the first He rebuilt his political footing as an “invincible hero.”
world exporter until the early 1970s, when Saudi Arabia In early 2003, Chávez took control of PDVSA, the national
occupied that place. In the 1950s and 1960s, Venezuela was oil company, after firing 20,000 of its highly skilled managers
one of the 20 wealthiest countries in the world measured in and workers. PDVSA morphed from being a professionally-
per capita income. The state provided cheap loans, subsidies, run oil company to becoming the source of petty cash for
numerous jobs, and free public services, and made sure that the government. He purged the Army and turned it into
an overvalued currency made imported goods accessible. another of his supporting pillars, and also sought to build up
Everyone got a little of what they wanted. Venezuela became his international standing as a righteous revolutionary that
a society of rent seekers living in an ideal world with lots of successfully confronted conservative elites, a partial truth. In
oil rent distributed by the government, making politicians any case, the old system died in 2002 when many of its key
powerful. players were defeated including the two traditional parties,
Democracy was instituted in 1958 when Marcos Pérez the trade unions linked to them, oil industry managers,
Jiménez (a military dictatorship) was ousted. A broad social and businesspeople who, until then, had shared power in a
consensus helped fight right-wing military coups and secure consensus-based oil rent distribution mechanism.
a fast victory over leftist guerrillas. People felt well despite Then came another oil boom. Oil prices rose steadily to
inequality (the top 20% captured 80% of the income) and 90% over $100 a barrel in mid-2008 from the low $20s in 2001-
of the voters supported the two-party system that allowed 2003. Venezuelan oil exports added $300 billion to the
70% of Venezuelans to be broadly considered middle class. government’s coffers in 2004-2008. The world financial crisis

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 Venezuelan and Ausman: The devastating Venezuelan crisis

brought prices down precipitously in the second half of 2008 to whom to sell. Companies were often forced to sell at a
and caught Venezuela unprepared. loss and also to sell at least half of their production to the
Nevertheless, the oil windfall had boosted Chávez’s standing. government.
Along with higher revenues came a surge in public spending, Non-oil output fell, while oil output was also trending
with multiple subsidies and welfare policies known as down. Rice production fell to 405,000 tons in 2017 from
“missions.” These were programs to massify access to 900,000 in 2007; corn production went down to 1 million
education and health, subsidized food, free housing and tons in 2017 from 2.4 million in 2007, and sugarcane,
direct aid in money, seeking to take Venezuela to “zero dropped to 3.5 million tons in 2017 from 8 million in 2006.
poverty” in 2021. Strict foreign exchange control was put in From 170,000 vehicles produced in 2007, the automotive
place in 2003 for political reasons: it allowed the government industry production dropped to only 2768 in 2017. Liquid
to rein in the private sector which was (and is) dependent steel manufacture went from 4 million tons in 2008 to
on foreign currency generated by oil – private exports that 270,000 in 2017, and aluminum went from 600,000 tons
have traditionally been minimal. The Bolivar was artificially in 2007 to 400,000 10  years later. No sector escaped the
overvalued, to allow for cheap imports. destruction.
The government showed encouraging results to the world: While oil prices were high, massive imports masked the effect
the poorest doubled their consumption capacity, poverty of declining production of local goods. When oil exports
dropped from 70% in 1999 to 30% in 2013, and the began to shrink, imports fell, and shortages soared. By 2017,
United Nations Development Program noted that the human imports were already at a quarter of their peak 2012 level,
development index had risen to 0.764, ranking Venezuela in when Chávez was campaigning for reelection. Rationing
67th place out of 187 countries. It was Chavismo’s golden age. became a fact of everyday life. Black market flourished.
Venezuela sought to become a regional power by helping left-
wing governments rise in many Latin American countries and THE ROAD TO OUTRIGHT DICTATORSHIP
by providing them strong financial support to stay in power.
The goal was to create an alternative axis to the United States. Personalism in leadership and corruption drove many
The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America was Venezuelans away from Chávez. The poor results of
born in 2004 and Petrocaribe, a scheme geared to subsidize “socialism” with low oil revenues drove away more. The
imports of Venezuelan oil for other countries was begun in political erosion of chavismo without both petrodollars and
2005. Petrodollar diplomacy secured for Chávez (and more Chávez became evident. Nicolás Maduro, Chávez’s political
recently, Maduro) the votes needed to survive challenges in the heir, has managed to hold on to power thanks to the support
international forums. Billions of dollars went to fulfill this goal. of the military and, increasingly, of paramilitary groups
According to some calculations, facilities granted to Petrocaribe serving as his “Republican Guard.”
countries cost Venezuela $50 billion between 2000 and 2017.
Maduro called elections for a National Constituent Assembly
in 2017 without abiding by the constitution. Those elections
THE DECLINE were not recognized as legitimate by the opposition and by
In 2007, Venezuela officially became a “socialist state.” The foreign governments, including the United States and several
government began by purchasing companies privatized in members of the European Union. He then called for sham
the early 1990s such as the National Telephone Company presidential elections in May 2018 also rejected as unfair and
(Cantv) in 2007, the Orinoco Steel Company (Sidor) in 2008, illegal by the opposition and by the international community.
and Banco de Venezuela, the largest commercial bank in the Several parties had been made illegal, and many opposition
country in 2009. Subsequently, the government moved to leaders were prevented from running for office, pushed to
expropriate property without compensation, as attested by exile, or jailed.
billions of dollars in lawsuits filed at the International Center The opposition considers Maduro’s new 6-year term (2019-
for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) attest. In 2025) illegitimate. It declared an absolute vacancy of the
large farms, the process began earlier by fostering, or at least Presidency of the Republic and, according to the constitution,
tolerating, invasions of these farmlands by peasants. appointed Juan Guaidó as Interim President. Sixty countries
About 1000 companies were nationalized between 2005 recognized Guaidó and are working to support a solution to
and 2017. The plan was to put all the fundamentals of the political crisis through free and fair elections as soon as
the economy in the hands of the government, leaving a possible. They agree that these changes can only happen after
small space for the private sector. Companies became Maduro steps down. The United States government is the
subject to rigorous controls on prices, and their access to strongest and most assertive opponent of the Maduro regime
foreign currency, extending even to their ability to choose and has been applying major sanctions since 2017.

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 Venezuelan and Ausman: The devastating Venezuelan crisis

WHAT’S NEXT? and accurately developments in Venezuela from the time

the socialist, revolutionary-turned military dictator, Hugo
The road to recovery starts with politics. Maduro’s departure Chávez, came to power in 1998 promising prosperity to the
is the prerequisite for free and fair elections that bring new present age under his successor Nicolás Maduro, bringing full
leaders to power. Reforms can only succeed if they are carried devastation and disaster whose seeds had been planted with
out by new leadership, with a robust political standing the advent of socialism in the 1990s. All this is well recounted
so that reforms can take place democratically, and with in this article, better than I have read in the American and
conviction, because these changes will neither be quick nor International Media, including the BBC.
easy. Decision-making will have to be inclusive, with buy-in
from critical constituencies. Strong international support is The author(s) describe how Venezuela was afflicted with the
also essential. In the economy, it must be back to basics: the Dutch disease, a disease that also afflicted Mexico with the
rule of law, property rights, practical beliefs for expectations, same commodity, oil, during the presidency of José López
and a social safety net for all. Three key institutions need to Portillo in the early 1980s. Likewise, it was a disaster for
be rebuilt quickly: the judiciary, to restore the rule of law; Mexico. However, unlike in Venezuela, the citizens of our
PDVSA, to feed the country; and the central bank, to restore neighbor to the south eventually voted out the progressive
confidence in the currency. and corrupt Institutional Revolutionary Party, and voted in
the more accountable, free-market oriented, conservative
A reform plan called “Plan País” has been crafted and National Action Party (PAN), bringing and consolidating
approved by the opposition. It is a sensible blueprint. It relative prosperity and stability in Mexico.
foresees humanitarian assistance (food, medicines, and
health care), macroeconomic stabilization, structural reforms, The tragic story of Cuba in the past 60  years is even more
fiscal reforms, imports to fill the shelves early on, and direct apropos. The heart-rending story of Venezuela cannot but
subsidies to support the most vulnerable population. It bring to mind the even more disastrous events that took
contains policies geared to reactivate the oil industry and to place on the Caribbean island since the Cuban Revolution of
attract foreign investment. Agriculture and industry need to 1959. This was exactly 40 years before the advent of dictator
get back on their feet, along with programs to generate quality Hugo Chávez in Venezuela. One cannot help but draw social,
jobs. All of this is to be driven by the private sector. economic, and political parallels between the two nations.
Security challenges include the pressing need to regain control Cuba, like Venezuela, was a prosperous country, despite
over the territory, now plagued by illicit drugs and arms the much-touted ruthlessness and corruption of President
businesses and multiple paramilitary groups. The Armed Fulgencio Batista. Even with the turbulent years of revolutionary
Forces, law enforcement agencies, and the public administration violence in the 1950s preceding the Castro revolution, Cuba’s
all need to be rebuilt. A complex debt restructuring also awaits, prosperity was unparalleled. This was true for education,
with over $160 billion in foreign debt in default. All of this standard of living, and health care. The Cuban socialist
means that Venezuela’s recovery will require substantial upfront revolution ended all of that – and most importantly, it
funding from the International Monetary Fund, multilateral extinguished freedom.
institutions, bilateral export financing agencies, foreign The author(s) write: “Venezuela was the second largest oil
donations, and the debt restructuring process. Private capital producer in the world until 1960 when the Soviet Union
will follow, once the dust settles. displaced it, and the first world exporter until the early 1970s
(I want to express my gratitude to the author of this paper for when Saudi Arabia occupied that place. In the 1950s and
allowing Surgical Neurology International (SNI) to bring this 1960s, Venezuela was one of the 20 wealthiest countries in the
objective information to our readers that is not easily obtainable world measured in per capita income. The state provided cheap
elsewhere. Its value is in showing how corruption, the desire loans, subsidies, numerous jobs, and free public services, and
for power and money in a country can affect its government made sure that an overvalued currency made imported goods
leaders, and ruin the lives of the people of the country who are accessible. Everyone got a little of what they wanted. Venezuela
the patients of our colleagues there and elsewhere. James I. became a society of rent seekers living in an ideal world
Ausman, MD, PhD-EEd). with lots of oil rent distributed by the government, making
politicians powerful. Democracy was instituted in 1958 when
COMMENTS BY MIGUEL A. FARIA, MD Marcos Pérez Jiménez (a military dictatorship) was ousted…”

SNI Associate Editor in Chief: Socioeconomics, Politics, Indeed, a great future was squandered by mismanagement,
Medicine, and Would Affairs and eventually the formation of a corrupt socialist dictatorship,
the same as in Cuba. In my book, “Cuba in Revolution: Escape
This is an excellent review article/editorial for which the From a Lost Paradise” (2002), I wrote: “In 1958, just prior to
author(s) should be congratulated. It describes perceptibly the revolution, Cuba had three times as many doctors as all of

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 Venezuelan and Ausman: The devastating Venezuelan crisis

the Central American countries combined, but there was no to actually improve. This gives the new leftist president time
oversupply because freedom and the ordered liberty of the free to consolidate his power and build his police state. Of course,
market reigned.” Public health was a la par with the United the money is created out of nothing – mere entries in a ledger
States. Life expectancy in Cuba in 1958 was rising at the same of the state or from the wealth built by the previous free
pace as those of industrialized European countries. Cuba had enterprise government. Once the police state is completed,
the lowest infant mortality rate in Latin America. In education, then the initial utopian illusion is dropped. Rapidly, the
Cuba also ranked at the top and had the third highest literacy totalitarian state rises and all references to the utopia fade into
rate in Latin America. Just before the Revolution, prosperity the distance. Elections are then rigged and true democracy
reigned, and the standard of living was comparable to those disappears. Enemies are arrested and removed from positions
in many European countries. Even without oil, the economy that might endanger the new totalitarians. At this stage, the
was thriving, the same as with Venezuela in the decade of the economy begins to collapse, as it was built on fiat (fake)
2000s, but all of this ended in both countries with the advent of money. The stage of hyperinflation rises, international
socialism and the loss of freedom. investment dries up, banks are taken over by the government,
and commerce is destroyed. Starvation is close behind. Store
The decline and eventual devastation of the two countries
shelves are empty, food lines grow, people migrate in mass
began in earnestness once they openly declared themselves
numbers to other countries to avoid this devastation of the
socialist States: Cuba in 1961, immediately after the travesty
economy; and to keep their power, the government becomes
of the Bay of Pigs, and Venezuela in 2007, after Chavez,
increasingly violent and oppressive. At that stage, we have
like Fidel, had fully consolidated power. Both proceeded
full communism. All pretense of this being a revolution for
with nationalization and expropriation of private property.
the “little people” continues to be believed only by the simple
Freedom of the press and private education ended, and full
minded and those benefiting from the new bureaucracy and/
socialist dictatorship became the order of the day.
or the enforcers of the police state.
In Cuba, communist dictatorship and misery still reigns
Miguel’s comments are beautifully crafted and poignant.
due to the police state totalitarianism enforced in an
With his addition, all should understand this process and the
island by the evil genius of Fidel Castro. However, neither
enormous value of the private property, the rule of law based
Chávez nor Maduro had the genius component, and the
on transcended natural law, a constitutional system that
Venezuelan situation, which can only be characterized as
guarantees liberty and an economic system that recognizes
anarcho-tyranny in the political spectrum, will not last much
private contracts and negotiations outside the state. The evil
longer. In fact, Maduro has lasted this long not only due
of collectivism is contained in this wonderful paper.
to the support of the top military ranks led by the corrupt
henchmen of Chávez and Maduro, who fear prosecution for SNI receives papers on socioeconomics and politics from
corruption and war crimes but also due to the bolstering of around the world due to its devotion to Freedom of the Press,
four authoritarian nations: Russia, China, Iran, and Cuba. its desire to enlighten our readers everywhere with the truth in
its concern about the health and welfare of people, who are our
Juan Guaidó, the President of the National Assembly, has
Patients everywhere. (James I. Ausman, MD, PhD, Emeritus
already been recognized as the legitimate President of Venezuela
Editor, SNI, an operational part of a charitable foundation,
by the US and most of Latin America. The dictatorship will
The James I and Carolyn R Ausman Educational Foundation).
soon collapse, and it is only a matter of time before freedom
returns to the long-suffering South American nation, the These Editorials may not necessarily reflect on the opinions of
proud country of Simón Bolívar, the great Liberator. I want to the members of the SNI Board and publishers.
thank the author(s) again for bringing the issue of Venezuela Comments from SNI’s readers are welcomed and will be
eloquently and incisively to the intelligent readers of SNI. published if appropriate to this subject.

COMMENTS BY RUSSELL L. BLAYLOCK, MD Disclaimer

SNI Associate Editor-in-Chief, Neuroinflammation Section The views and opinions expressed in this article are
The paper on Venezuela demonstrates, quite well, a repeated those of the author and do not necessarily reflect
methodology by the revolutionary left. First come, the the  official  policy  or position of the Journal or its
promises and extensive use of propaganda – painting a management.
picture of a coming utopia, should the people be wise enough
to elect the leftist “progressive.” Then follows the welfare How to cite this article: Venezuelan A, Ausman J. The devastating
Venezuelan crisis. Surg Neurol Int 2019;10:145.
state, which initially grows and the plight of the poor seems

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