This essay explores a dual-mandate that I have; a general repudiation of the socialist tendencies that many on the Left are so fetched by, as well as offer whatever insight or attention I can to a pressing geopolitical concern. In that vein, let's turn our gaze to Venezuela. I will do my best to maintain a respectable amount of indignation throughout. Bus driver turned much-disputed President Mr. Nicolas Maduro has amassed an impressive litany of crimes against humanity since assuming office back in 2013. Despite plunging his own country into misery, desolation and bankruptcy, Mr. Maduro has ordered the expansion of an entirely civilian militia by one million members. This army has come to be called the National Bolivarian Militia and will be a reserve force to complement Maduro's "official" cadre. The announcement was made during a ceremony honoring late President Hugo Chavez's return to power after a failed attempt at a coup d'etat. This seems fitting enough. I've often described Mr. Maduro as Mr. Chavez's dauphin, proud to carry on Chavez's tradition of avarice, subversion and poverty. In fact, late last year, no less than five South American countries as well as, oddly enough, Canada have asked that Venezuela be placed under international investigation for crimes against humanity. The request has been submitted to the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court (ICC) for various offenses dating back to 2014, less than one year after Maduro succeeded Chavez. I would like to add a few offenses I myself have noticed for the ICC's concern on the off chance their President, Chile Eboe-Osuji happens to come across this humble essay. My gorge first began to rise toward Maduro as I read of the horrible atrocities committed just last year when it was reported that Maduro and his ilk were ordering that doctors withhold oxygen from patients who needed it. As Nicolas Casey reports in a rather insightful article (link below), "The Cuban doctors said they were ordered to go door-to-door in impoverished neighborhoods, offering medicine and warning residents that they would be cut off from medical services if they did not vote for Mr. Maduro or his candidates". In fact, I would like to quote a full paragraph from a 400-page report that was generated by the Organization of the United States (OAS). This paragraph is from page 5 of its executive summary. Full link below: "With more than 12,000 Venezuelans arbitrarily detained since the election of President Maduro in 2013,equating approximately seven people, per day, every day since his election, Part I, Chapter VII, detailsthe use of arbitrary detention or the severe deprivation of liberty on both a mass and targeted scale toterrorize and silence the population. The number of political prisoners in Venezuela is the highest it hasbeen since the military dictatorship of the 1950s, with close to 676 political prisoners at the height of the2017 protests. After stabilizing at around 220 in the first four months of 2018, the number of politicalprisoners spiked again in the weeks leading up to the fraudulent presidential elections of May 20, 2018. Asof May 13, 2018, there were 338 political prisoners behind bars. Since 2013, more than 1,300 people havebeen held as political prisoners. Detention facilities operate autonomously, regularly ignoring court ordersto free those in detention. The evidence also disclosed the criminal complicity of judges and prosecutors inordering these arbitrary arrests, imprisonments, and deprivations of liberty." I don't want to be accused of relying too heavily on this report but I want to share one more paragraph commenting on the unfortunate relationship between the drug crisis and government. This is from page 31: "In addition, the government’s involvement in organized crime and drug trafficking has become anincreasing concern whereas the Vice President of Venezuela was designated a “Narcotics Trafficker” by theUS Treasury Department in 201
