The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) recently brought together civil-society leaders from across Latin American for a series of hearings. The hearings on the plight of political prisoners and human-rights defenders in Venezuela hit especially close to home — a home that I fled after it was taken over by socialism, poverty, and oppression.
In the 20th century, Venezuela quickly became one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America after discovering vast oil reserves. That all changed when Hugo Chávez seized power. Elected democratically following a failed military coup, Chávez moved to entrap Venezuela in his socialist system of corruption, greed, and clientelism — or, as he called it, the “Bolivarian Revolution.”
Comments