You Won't Believe What We Saw in Socialist Venezuela! Bernie Sanders Wants Socialism! Complete Disaster!

It’s no secret that things are bad in Venezuela. Rolling blackouts are causing infant deaths in hospitals where backup generators have ceased to function; the country is on pace to hit 700 percent inflation; outside of active war zones, the murder rate in Caracas is the highest in the world.

For many Americans, it’s a news story piped in from a faraway place. For me? It’s my friends and family who are suffering at the hands of an increasingly powerful and paranoid dictatorial regime. As a kid growing up in Caracas, I remember the difficult decision my parents had to make when Hugo Chavez attempted his coup and took over shortly thereafter. My parents decided to leave behind our life in Venezuela and come to the United States – much like my mother’s family fled Cuba in the 1960s when Fidel Castro took over. Though it was a hard choice, in hindsight, we were the lucky ones.

Those watching from around the world, particularly in the United States, seem hesitant to put a label on Venezuela’s struggle. But for me and mine, it’s clear what precipitated this crisis – and we don’t share the hesitance to point it out. While extenuating circumstances like drought and oil prices have certainly worsened the situation, it’s clear there’s a larger force behind Venezuela’s woes.

The force that is driving Venezuela into the ground is socialism.