"When tyranny becomes law, rebellion is a right." This sentence was spoken by the so called liberator of South America, Simón Bolivar, who liberated Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru. For the 206 years of sovereignty, the Venezuelan people have always looked to Bolivar as a symbol of patriotism and unity. Yet some cruel minds resorted to him as a method of manipulation and brainwashing. The socialist leaders of the PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) used our liberator as propaganda and as justification for its blatant abuse of rights. Basing the country's 5th republic on their socialist agenda, and stating that socialism is what bolivar would have wanted and that the people must unite through patriotism, that there will always be love for the mother land.
The manipulation not only worked, it worked brilliantly. Throughout 15 years, corruption and mismanagement of funds and resources flourished. The government decided that it was a good idea to make its most profitable export, oil, its only one. This decision came back to haunt them in throughout the past 3 years, where oil prices have been on a steady decline. Because of the drop, money began to spiral out of the Federal Reserve, as the ludicrous corrupt spending continued, but the earnings diminished. No money led to food shortages, so much so that people have to wait in lines day and night to do their grocery shopping, and they can only go to the supermarket once a week. People have to revert to the black market to buy things as simple as toilet paper and eggs, for 5 times the price. The currency, called the Bolivar, is now carried in backpacks and suitcases rather than wallets, as a single unit is worth less than a penny.
On December of 2015, the opposition finally saw a glimpse of hope seep through the cracks, when they won the majority vote of representatives in the National Assembly. The momentum began to build up, however the government saw the threat that this posed to their regime, so the president Nicolás Maduro demolished democracy in Venezuela by making each of the three branches of government independent. So again, "When tyranny becomes law, rebellion is a right."
Ever since conditions worsened, protests have been a regular occurrence in the capital city of Caracas, and unfortunately the police brutality and abuse of rights came as well. After Maduro disassembled the governmental structure, unrest began to surge like a wildfire.
207 years ago, on April 19th, 1810, the patriotic revolutionaries of a Spanish colony decided to take the first step in becoming an independent nation; this date has been celebrated as a national holiday for hundreds of years. Because of the importance of the date, and the Venezuelan government's recent actions, the opposition showed up in massive numbers to show their discontent on a demonstration on April 19th, 2017. However, the government did not take kindly to these peaceful protests and met the protesters with crowd control weapons such as tear gas and rubber bullets. Everyday, I receive new on how my friends and family are too scared to leave for school or work because college students are getting killed on the streets. This Wednesday, a 17 year old boy named Armando Cañizales was shot in the neck and bled out while protesting on an city street. This blatant abuse of human rights has to be stopped and other nations need to intervene, and not allow the Venezuelan government to continue to abuse the people with no repercussions. The government calls the opposition violent terrorists, but as their idol once said: "When tyranny becomes law, rebellion is a right."
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