Why I am not surprise, i recognize some of those names lol, Rojas family is happy in the USA and Avendano oh well, I am impress he even publish it. But a lot of these folks are finally waking up to the coffee. They often brush aside Chavez but it was starting to crack from day one, his representative for the UK had no clue of Venezuelan history or that of South America. In fact, Guaido and his team started to crack when they talk about removing the policies that Chavez had implemented. Then they tried to demonized and paint Maduro and Chavez as the problem of Venezuela. What people don't realize, Venezuela supply chain belongs to the hands of a few family, its quite an interesting system to be honest. Even before the sanction started kicking in, this group started rationing the goods. Lots of people did not realize that the tipping point of economy actually started in 2014, the collapse of Oil prices provided the opportunity to dismantle lots of the programs that derive its funding from Oil revenues. Maduro also did not play his cards right, you simply cannot be enemies of these people. Chavez knew how to play them, Maduro did not have that skill. It was also a policy decision of Obama administration to intensify the efforts of dismantling the administration. These family group that control most of the supply chain started rationing goods, basically targeting pro-government areas, then they started demanding US dollars which typical Venezuelan cannot get. This went on for months, I was in Aruba at the time, so i notice the influx of Venezuelans. In Venezuela, there is also a distinct class structure, Chavez manage to mobilize the poor and middle class working Venezuelans to support his vision. While many talk about crisis in Venezuela and how rich it was, that's not true, similar to what exist in the USA existed in Venezuela at the time, you had a country where 1% were the main benefactors of the Oil revenue and greater population lived a life of poverty. That's why when the USA tried to over-throw him, 1 million plus people took to the streets demanding his return or the oil fields go up in flames. Bush had to back down or risk Exxon Mobil and others companies fleeing the country. Well I believe now, the nationalizing of the resources triggered Washington harsh policy approach. Because you had a situation where American companies dominated the market and now they are gone. Chavez mended some of the hurt between relation and invited them back but with limited freedom that they once enjoyed.

This is just a snapshot of some of the events. Let me highlight some of the achievements which Chavez had and why the chavista movement is so strong. Chavez isn't your typical socialist. What he believed is that the wealth of the country should be for the enjoyment of all the people of the country and not a few. He had two very effective program, land distribution and housing. Prior to Chavez, land ownership in Venezuela was a luxury for the rich, Chavez change. Many people benefited from land distribution. There was also a housing program, millions of people benefited, for the first time a typical Venezuelan had a home. Now this is a big thing, probably one of his most impacting policy decision. Chavez did not stop there he had his weekly talk show programs where he challenge Venezuelans to start think like Kings and Queens. He reiterated the teaching of Simon Bolivar, and emphasize their roots of Africa. Lots of this may seem irrelevant but one of the damages of colonialism especially in the Caribbean and Central and South America is the defeated mentality people have of themselves. Chavez reach out to his neighbors and Caribbean and said, things are going to change, and this is now my policy, we are brothers and sisters. American think tank saw this message as a threat, now if you study American history in this part of the hemisphere, you understand why. Quite frankly, I get where the Americans are coming from, you can't be talking about taking care of your people and neglecting the profits that my companies could make. Chavez was letting neighboring countries especially those with large Afro population to pay for Oil at 40 to 50 dollars a barrel, this got the American piss.

Again I probably summarized, and my dad would say this, with American you shake their hands when they reach out but never forget your history and who your loyalty belongs to no matter how much money is on the table. A lot of these countries especially in South and Central America has just been on the wrong end of American misguided foreign policies.