Venezuela's ‘21st-Century Socialism' Is an Unmitigated Disaster

The sham re-election of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on May 20 has made it clear that the humanitarian crisis in that country will only get worse.

Maduro has been running a dictatorship since the election of the constituent assembly in July of 2017, and Venezuelans are suffering because of it.

Many on the left have for years praised Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, as heroes of “21st century socialism.” Tragically, the downward spiral of Venezuela’s economy puts the lie to those claims.

Venezuela’s decline is well-documented in Heritage’s Index of Economic Freedom. In 1995, the first year of the index, Venezuela scored 59.8 on its 0-to-100 scale, more than two points above the world average.

The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution.

That prosperity did not last. Under Chavez and Maduro, economic freedom has evaporated, and Venezuela is now one of the most economically repressed countries in the world, second only to North Korea. (See chart.)

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