In Venezuela, Yet Another Socialist Government Crushes Dissent: New at Reason

El Nacional, one of the few remaining independent media outlets in Venezuela, ceased print publication last week after the government choked off access to paper. The newspaper earned official ire with its long opposition to socialist strongman, Hugo Chavez, and his successor, Nicolas Maduro, as their rule became increasingly totalitarian. While El Nacional plans to continue to publish online, the end of its print edition is bad news for Venezuelans who value dissenting voices and truthful information.

If there’s any silver lining, writes J.D. Tuccille, it’s that Venezuela provides a valuable lesson for that rising tide of Americans who think they’ve found a shiny new toy in a system for forcibly organizing society that keeps promising utopia, but instead delivers starvation and brutality through centralized control of the economy.

Venezuela’s socialist regime has been tightening the screws on journalists and critics for years, using law, regulation, and pure brute force to silence anybody who might oppose or merely embarrass rulers. And, of course, the government also jails political opponents, beats demonstrators, and uses its legal power and economic control to stifle dissenting opinions that “smack of heresy” in a system in which there is no “relatively inviolable non-state employment sector” to serve as “a condition for political freedom.”

It’s enough to make you think that, just maybe, the people getting starry eyed about socialism should look to Venezuela for some important warning signs.

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