One Generation Away From Extinction Maria Bello
Americans are steadily getting used to giving up their freedoms – and as someone who was forced to flee the oppressive dictatorship in Venezuela, that terrifies me.
In Venezuela, even mild criticism of the Maduro regime is treated as a criminal act. For “minor” offenses, you might simply be ridiculed and ostracized by state-controlled propaganda (which is ubiquitous). If you continue to challenge the ruling elite, however, the consequences become more severe – you might be arrested without cause and indefinitely detained, or you might even be subjected to physical torture.
That’s the Venezuela I fled as a teenager when I migrated – legally – to the United States. I escaped a violent, repressive dictatorship.
That wasn’t always the case, though. When my parents were young, Venezuela was a vibrant, prosperous democracy. At one time, foreigners spoke of “Venezuelan Exceptionalism” and our people revered Venezuela’s anti-authoritarian Constitution.
So what happened?
Hugo Chavez – pardoned after a failed coup attempt in 1992 – took advantage of a temporary economic downturn to run for the presidency on a socialist platform, essentially bribing the voters with promises of lavish spending on education, healthcare, and social programs.
To pay for all this, Chavez gutted the productive portions of the Venezuelan economy. When punitive tax rates didn’t generate enough money, he forcibly seized control of oil companies, telecoms, and other industries, using them as a personal slush fund for his economic Ponzi schemes.
Predictably, this caused an outcry from those who had their possessions taken from them by jack-booted thugs. Chavez responded by imprisoning those who dared to speak out against his illegal abuses. His successor, Nicolas Maduro, uses the same tactics to keep the Venezuelan people from overthrowing his regime.
After decades of corruption and mismanagement, however, there is nothing left for the government to pillage. Where once they could at least count on support from the poor who relied on government handouts and subsidies, the socialists now depend almost entirely on the loyalty of the military, the secret police, and the state-owned media.
The transition from democracy to dictatorship didn’t happen overnight. It started with the people’s willingness to tolerate the loss of a little freedom in exchange for economic security. It got worse when the government started violating the rights of the few on behalf of the many. And by the time most ordinary Venezuelans realized that they had forfeited their God-given liberties to a criminal regime that could no longer deliver on its promises, it was too late.
Sadly, the United States seems to be drifting in the same direction. In 2017, the nonprofit Freedom House gave the United States a score of 89 out of 100 on its “Freedom in the World” report. In 2023, our score is down to 83 – the same as Panama. Our score puts us firmly within the ranks of “free” countries, but despite our claims to be the “leaders of the free world,” we are far from leading the world in terms of our freedom.
During the pandemic, for instance, we saw millions of Americans accept – and even embrace – policies that deprived people of their liberties under the pretense of keeping them safe from illness. We saw governors dictate which products we could buy from stores, and impose insane rules governing whether and how we were allowed to dine out. Worst of all, we saw many instances of government officials forcibly shutting down churches – even going so far as to send police officers to harass worshipers.
But our willingness to forfeit our freedoms to supposedly benevolent authority figures goes far beyond what happened during the pandemic.
We allow government officials and private corporations to invade our privacy. We tolerate – and sometimes even demand – censorship. We elect politicians who pass multi-trillion-dollar spending bills with very little transparency about where our money actually goes. We embrace the weaponization of government to target our political enemies instead of demanding equality before the law.
America isn’t Venezuela yet, but I’ve seen how quickly a vibrant democracy can turn into a repressive dictatorship – and I’m worried about the direction in which my adopted country is headed.
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