Politics tHE eNTIRELY fAKE dEMOCRATIC sOCIALIST aLEXANDRIA oCASIO-cORTEZ

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From North to South: The Rise of a New Strain of Socialist Ignorance

Socialist firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has revealed major gaps in her understanding of basic government (PanAm Post).
She is the intellectual heir of the presidential candidate, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who shook the Democratic party with a call for “democratic socialism.” Like him, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to offer everything for free to voters, financed by the taxes of others.

The triumph of Ocasio-Cortez exposes not only her academic deficiencies, but those of a whole generation, thanks to the standardization of the equation that brought with it strong features of state indoctrination.

Hillary Clinton herself said she lost to Donald Trump because “Bernie offered free ponies for everyone.” And that is the new trend within the Democratic Party, particularly when appealing to young people, to pretend that the state will finance health, education and even housing, whatever the cost, even despite destroying the entire Republican structure.

In a recent video broadcast on social networks, elected lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explained that Democrats need to regain control of “the three chambers of Congress.”

Then she corrected herself, and claimed they needed to control the three chambers of the government, but misidentified those three.

That is to say, the congresswoman-to-be did not know the basic structure of the republic that demands that none of the three powers have more power than another, so that there is a separation of powers.

These are: executive (presidential branch), legislative (parliament), and judicial.

Her video exploits belie her ignorance. In the case of a bicameral system, as its name suggests, two chambers, not three, are required to approve legislation: The House of Representatives as the voice of the people, and (originally) the Senate as the voice of the states (senators were originally appointed by state legislatures until the 20th century, when they were popularly elected).

In another event during her post-election tour, she said before cameras that in January she will be “inaugurated” the 3rd of January, and will start signing laws on the 4th, when, in fact, the legislators are not inaugurated and do not sign laws: that function corresponds to the president.

But the ignorance of the legislator is not limited to political knowledge: it also extends to the economic sphere, since she speaks of “free stuff” when it comes to state services, despite its enormous tax cost; this, despite having a graduate degree in economics.

So the question arises: is her lack of economic knowledge for real…or is it feigned for electoral reasons?

Then, a few weeks ago when they consulted the elected legislator about what should be done in case that the Supreme Court reverses the ruling (Roe vs Wade) that allowed the legalization of abortion at the federal level, she responded: “we should abolish the Supreme Court.”

Actor James Woods, who has faced threats of constant expulsions from social media for his conservative political criticism, argues that “the power of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should not be underestimated.”

In addition, he insists that “socialism, although it is a poison, is a deeply seductive political drug.”

She is three months away from assuming her office, and has no way to pay the rent for her DC apartment. This event should be used as propaganda to reflect the shortcomings of her generation.

She gave up her job in a bar to undertake a political crusade consisting of taking power, and demanding that the state, with its citizens’ taxes, finance the health, education, and housing of citizens.

That is, instead of setting an example, being the voice of a generation that strives to get ahead and contributes to the economy and therefore to society, she comes to the government demanding everything for nothing.

Ocasio-Cortez defended herself against the ridicule by claiming that the Republicans, instead of “drooling” over her statements, should have the courage to take her on the point they want to highlight: “they do not believe that the state health service is a right.”

That is to say, for her, the problem is not that she does not know what her job consists of or how the government works: the real problem is the lack of socialized medicine.

But both ignorance and contempt for republican institutions are not limited to Ocasio-Cortez. Also this week, another Latina woman, senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, former president of Argentina, called the division of powers obsolete and proposed to “update” it. And her appeal focused mainly, like Ocasio-Cortez, on underestimating the judicial branch (very convenient for those who have outstanding criminal charges against them.”

Both are the reflection of the contemporary left: more focused on the appearance, the ethnicity, the sex, of their candidates than their proposals. Because this fits with their rhetoric of victimhood, and the state as the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-giving father of all.

Article by Mamelo Fiallo first appeared at Panampost.com. Read the original.
 
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MARIS61 said:
Ignorance like hers in a position of power is dangerous, but it's her followers that are scary-stupid.
Click to expand...
When you throw out terms like ignorance and stupid followers of her's are you referring to Ivanka or Melania?
 
Kennedy: Ocasio-Cortez 'Doesn't Have a Working Knowledge of Basic Economics'
Dem socialist makes faulty claim about Pentagon spending.

Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was called out this week for claiming a reported $21 trillion in Pentagon accounting errors could fund Medicare-for-all.

Ocasio-Cortez, who will represent New York's 14th congressional district starting in January, cited a Nation story about how $21 trillion in "Pentagon financial transactions" between 1998 and 2015 could not be documented or explained.

“$21T in Pentagon accounting errors. Medicare for All costs ~$32T,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “That means 66% of Medicare for All could have been funded already by the Pentagon.”

$21 TRILLION of Pentagon financial transactions “could not be traced, documented, or explained.”

$21T in Pentagon accounting errors. Medicare for All costs ~$32T.

That means 66% of Medicare for All could have been funded already by the Pentagon.

And that’s before our premiums. https://t.co/soT6GSmDSG

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 2, 2018

Ocasio-Cortez was roundly criticized -- even by left-leaning outlets like The New York Times and Vox -- and The Washington Post awarded her claim “four Pinnochios.”


"The $21 trillion is not one big pot of dormant money collecting dust somewhere. It’s the sum of all transactions — both inflows and outflows — for which the Defense Department did not have adequate documentation," the Post explained.

The "Outnumbered" panel reacted on Tuesday, with Harris Faulkner remarking, "You've got to have your facts straight."

Faulkner said Ocasio-Cortez often gives her opponents "low-hanging fruit," pointing to her infamously not knowing the three branches of government, and when she spoke about Israel's "occupation" of Palestine.

"I guess it's funny, but it's not. And it shouldn't just be Republicans or people who are politically different than she is who are giving her grief over these items," Faulkner said. "It should be within her own party, because she's being held up as somebody who could really be a big voice in the future."

Kennedy said Ocasio-Cortez lacks a working knowledge of basic economics, which makes it impossible for her to explain how her democratic socialist policies would work in practice.

"It's the downfall of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, because it's built on a foundation of yogurt."

She said Ocasio-Cortez cannot explain why socialist economic policies would benefit the country because she doesn't understand how money and wealth are created.

http://insider.foxnews.com/2018/12/...-pentagon-could-fund-medicare-all-outnumbered
 
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/al...ful-house-commitee-in-charge-of-taxation-laws

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez eyes powerful House committee in charge of taxation laws
By Lukas Mikelionis | Fox News

Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has not yet been sworn into Congress, but she’s already eyeing a seat at one of the most powerful House committees in charge of taxation laws.

The Democratic Socialist’s spokesperson confirmed to Vice News that she will seek a seat on the House Ways and Means committee, which is traditionally packed with seasoned legislators with experience in writing tax code.

The effort to get on the committee indicates the progressive Democrats’ growing ambition to bring forward actual progressive bills to the vote, as the committee is instrumental in making that happen.

Video
Ocasio-Cortez, together with other freshmen Democrats, has been pushing for grand policies, including Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. Both measures would need to go through the committee before it could be subjected to a vote.

But the Democratic leadership may not be so quick to embrace the rising star of the party and instead opt out for a centrist Democrat who would utilize the membership of the committee better.

Rep. Tom Suozzi, who represents New York’s 3rd district, is also eyeing for the seat, the Intercept reported. He’s deemed a more conservative Democrat, who doesn’t share the hostility of corporations with the progressive wing of the party.

“I’m very progressive on a lot of different issues, in support of the Green New Deal, immigration, both those issues, as well as on issues related to poverty,” he told the outlet. “Am I fiscally conservative? Yes, I’m fiscally conservative.”

Ocasio-Cortez's bid for a seat at the committee may also raise some eyebrows following a number of blunders concerning policies she’s advocating.

She was recently called out by various fact checkers for suggesting that a reported $21 trillion in Pentagon accounting errors could fund most of her proposed “Medicare for all” health care program.

Multiple fact-checkers and even liberal publications that provide sympathetic coverage of the New York Democrat, slammed her suggestion, noting that The Pentagon’s accounting errors aren’t actual sums of money that could be spent on other programs.

The Washington Post said the comment was “swing and a miss!” and awarded her claim “four Pinnochios.”

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/al...ful-house-commitee-in-charge-of-taxation-laws
 
Funny that you are so afraid of a first-term, not-even-seated-yet, house member from New York.

barfo
 
MARIS61 said:
From North to South: The Rise of a New Strain of Socialist Ignorance

Ocasio-Kirchner.jpg

Socialist firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has revealed major gaps in her understanding of basic government (PanAm Post).
She is the intellectual heir of the presidential candidate, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who shook the Democratic party with a call for “democratic socialism.” Like him, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to offer everything for free to voters, financed by the taxes of others.

The triumph of Ocasio-Cortez exposes not only her academic deficiencies, but those of a whole generation, thanks to the standardization of the equation that brought with it strong features of state indoctrination.

Hillary Clinton herself said she lost to Donald Trump because “Bernie offered free ponies for everyone.” And that is the new trend within the Democratic Party, particularly when appealing to young people, to pretend that the state will finance health, education and even housing, whatever the cost, even despite destroying the entire Republican structure.

In a recent video broadcast on social networks, elected lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explained that Democrats need to regain control of “the three chambers of Congress.”

Then she corrected herself, and claimed they needed to control the three chambers of the government, but misidentified those three.

That is to say, the congresswoman-to-be did not know the basic structure of the republic that demands that none of the three powers have more power than another, so that there is a separation of powers.

These are: executive (presidential branch), legislative (parliament), and judicial.

Her video exploits belie her ignorance. In the case of a bicameral system, as its name suggests, two chambers, not three, are required to approve legislation: The House of Representatives as the voice of the people, and (originally) the Senate as the voice of the states (senators were originally appointed by state legislatures until the 20th century, when they were popularly elected).

In another event during her post-election tour, she said before cameras that in January she will be “inaugurated” the 3rd of January, and will start signing laws on the 4th, when, in fact, the legislators are not inaugurated and do not sign laws: that function corresponds to the president.

But the ignorance of the legislator is not limited to political knowledge: it also extends to the economic sphere, since she speaks of “free stuff” when it comes to state services, despite its enormous tax cost; this, despite having a graduate degree in economics.

So the question arises: is her lack of economic knowledge for real…or is it feigned for electoral reasons?

Then, a few weeks ago when they consulted the elected legislator about what should be done in case that the Supreme Court reverses the ruling (Roe vs Wade) that allowed the legalization of abortion at the federal level, she responded: “we should abolish the Supreme Court.”

Actor James Woods, who has faced threats of constant expulsions from social media for his conservative political criticism, argues that “the power of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should not be underestimated.”

In addition, he insists that “socialism, although it is a poison, is a deeply seductive political drug.”

She is three months away from assuming her office, and has no way to pay the rent for her DC apartment. This event should be used as propaganda to reflect the shortcomings of her generation.

She gave up her job in a bar to undertake a political crusade consisting of taking power, and demanding that the state, with its citizens’ taxes, finance the health, education, and housing of citizens.

That is, instead of setting an example, being the voice of a generation that strives to get ahead and contributes to the economy and therefore to society, she comes to the government demanding everything for nothing.

Ocasio-Cortez defended herself against the ridicule by claiming that the Republicans, instead of “drooling” over her statements, should have the courage to take her on the point they want to highlight: “they do not believe that the state health service is a right.”

That is to say, for her, the problem is not that she does not know what her job consists of or how the government works: the real problem is the lack of socialized medicine.

But both ignorance and contempt for republican institutions are not limited to Ocasio-Cortez. Also this week, another Latina woman, senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, former president of Argentina, called the division of powers obsolete and proposed to “update” it. And her appeal focused mainly, like Ocasio-Cortez, on underestimating the judicial branch (very convenient for those who have outstanding criminal charges against them.”

Both are the reflection of the contemporary left: more focused on the appearance, the ethnicity, the sex, of their candidates than their proposals. Because this fits with their rhetoric of victimhood, and the state as the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-giving father of all.

Article by Mamelo Fiallo first appeared at Panampost.com. Read the original.
Click to expand...
No more black square toilet seats? The horror!!!!!!!!!
 
MARIS61 said:
From North to South: The Rise of a New Strain of Socialist Ignorance

Ocasio-Kirchner.jpg

Socialist firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has revealed major gaps in her understanding of basic government (PanAm Post).
She is the intellectual heir of the presidential candidate, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who shook the Democratic party with a call for “democratic socialism.” Like him, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to offer everything for free to voters, financed by the taxes of others.

The triumph of Ocasio-Cortez exposes not only her academic deficiencies, but those of a whole generation, thanks to the standardization of the equation that brought with it strong features of state indoctrination.

Hillary Clinton herself said she lost to Donald Trump because “Bernie offered free ponies for everyone.” And that is the new trend within the Democratic Party, particularly when appealing to young people, to pretend that the state will finance health, education and even housing, whatever the cost, even despite destroying the entire Republican structure.

In a recent video broadcast on social networks, elected lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explained that Democrats need to regain control of “the three chambers of Congress.”

Then she corrected herself, and claimed they needed to control the three chambers of the government, but misidentified those three.

That is to say, the congresswoman-to-be did not know the basic structure of the republic that demands that none of the three powers have more power than another, so that there is a separation of powers.

These are: executive (presidential branch), legislative (parliament), and judicial.

Her video exploits belie her ignorance. In the case of a bicameral system, as its name suggests, two chambers, not three, are required to approve legislation: The House of Representatives as the voice of the people, and (originally) the Senate as the voice of the states (senators were originally appointed by state legislatures until the 20th century, when they were popularly elected).

In another event during her post-election tour, she said before cameras that in January she will be “inaugurated” the 3rd of January, and will start signing laws on the 4th, when, in fact, the legislators are not inaugurated and do not sign laws: that function corresponds to the president.

But the ignorance of the legislator is not limited to political knowledge: it also extends to the economic sphere, since she speaks of “free stuff” when it comes to state services, despite its enormous tax cost; this, despite having a graduate degree in economics.

So the question arises: is her lack of economic knowledge for real…or is it feigned for electoral reasons?

Then, a few weeks ago when they consulted the elected legislator about what should be done in case that the Supreme Court reverses the ruling (Roe vs Wade) that allowed the legalization of abortion at the federal level, she responded: “we should abolish the Supreme Court.”

Actor James Woods, who has faced threats of constant expulsions from social media for his conservative political criticism, argues that “the power of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should not be underestimated.”

In addition, he insists that “socialism, although it is a poison, is a deeply seductive political drug.”

She is three months away from assuming her office, and has no way to pay the rent for her DC apartment. This event should be used as propaganda to reflect the shortcomings of her generation.

She gave up her job in a bar to undertake a political crusade consisting of taking power, and demanding that the state, with its citizens’ taxes, finance the health, education, and housing of citizens.

That is, instead of setting an example, being the voice of a generation that strives to get ahead and contributes to the economy and therefore to society, she comes to the government demanding everything for nothing.

Ocasio-Cortez defended herself against the ridicule by claiming that the Republicans, instead of “drooling” over her statements, should have the courage to take her on the point they want to highlight: “they do not believe that the state health service is a right.”

That is to say, for her, the problem is not that she does not know what her job consists of or how the government works: the real problem is the lack of socialized medicine.

But both ignorance and contempt for republican institutions are not limited to Ocasio-Cortez. Also this week, another Latina woman, senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, former president of Argentina, called the division of powers obsolete and proposed to “update” it. And her appeal focused mainly, like Ocasio-Cortez, on underestimating the judicial branch (very convenient for those who have outstanding criminal charges against them.”

Both are the reflection of the contemporary left: more focused on the appearance, the ethnicity, the sex, of their candidates than their proposals. Because this fits with their rhetoric of victimhood, and the state as the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-giving father of all.

Article by Mamelo Fiallo first appeared at Panampost.com. Read the original.
Click to expand...
notice the black toilet seat sign with the red line through it has been removed...they weren't kidding around! Lasted about 2 minutes!
 
MarAzul said:
uh, Socialist are not new. Neither is their game.
Click to expand...
They've actually been interbreeding with non socialists leaving all these part this and part that hybrids for centuries now...you have your half socialists, your one quarter socialists, your conservative socialists, apolitical socialists, liberal socialists, all the combinations just like Ben and Jerry's flavors
 
riverman said:
They've actually been interbreeding with non socialists leaving all these part this and part that hybrids for centuries now...you have your half socialists, your one quarter socialists, your conservative socialists, apolitical socialists, liberal socialists, all the combinations just like Ben and Jerry's flavors
Click to expand...

Golly! I never thought of this integration.
 
MarAzul said:
You are right. The fearsome thing is, we have people that would elect one. Talk about a failure to educate!
Click to expand...

Take it up with your local New York school board.

barfo
 
MARIS61 said:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/al...ful-house-commitee-in-charge-of-taxation-laws

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez eyes powerful House committee in charge of taxation laws
By Lukas Mikelionis | Fox News

Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has not yet been sworn into Congress, but she’s already eyeing a seat at one of the most powerful House committees in charge of taxation laws.

The Democratic Socialist’s spokesperson confirmed to Vice News that she will seek a seat on the House Ways and Means committee, which is traditionally packed with seasoned legislators with experience in writing tax code.

The effort to get on the committee indicates the progressive Democrats’ growing ambition to bring forward actual progressive bills to the vote, as the committee is instrumental in making that happen.

Video
Ocasio-Cortez, together with other freshmen Democrats, has been pushing for grand policies, including Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. Both measures would need to go through the committee before it could be subjected to a vote.

But the Democratic leadership may not be so quick to embrace the rising star of the party and instead opt out for a centrist Democrat who would utilize the membership of the committee better.

Rep. Tom Suozzi, who represents New York’s 3rd district, is also eyeing for the seat, the Intercept reported. He’s deemed a more conservative Democrat, who doesn’t share the hostility of corporations with the progressive wing of the party.

“I’m very progressive on a lot of different issues, in support of the Green New Deal, immigration, both those issues, as well as on issues related to poverty,” he told the outlet. “Am I fiscally conservative? Yes, I’m fiscally conservative.”

Ocasio-Cortez's bid for a seat at the committee may also raise some eyebrows following a number of blunders concerning policies she’s advocating.

She was recently called out by various fact checkers for suggesting that a reported $21 trillion in Pentagon accounting errors could fund most of her proposed “Medicare for all” health care program.

Multiple fact-checkers and even liberal publications that provide sympathetic coverage of the New York Democrat, slammed her suggestion, noting that The Pentagon’s accounting errors aren’t actual sums of money that could be spent on other programs.

The Washington Post said the comment was “swing and a miss!” and awarded her claim “four Pinnochios.”

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/al...ful-house-commitee-in-charge-of-taxation-laws
Click to expand...
Another brilliant Fox News story. Wow, they hit this one out of the park.

Keep watching for more brilliant breaking news.
 
3RA1N1AC said:
If the left wing media got trump elected by talking about him all the time, maybe the right wing media will get her elected by talking about her all the time.
Click to expand...

News flash, she was already elected.

Here's the poison she's pushing:

In Venezuelan crisis, families can't even afford to properly bury the dead

By Hollie McKay | Fox News

CUCUTA, Colombia – As the crisis in Venezuela's socialist dictatorship deepens – gripped by mass hunger, starvation and a lack of medical supplies - there is no comfort even for the dead.

“What is happening is medieval. People are ‘renting’ caskets for a service, but giving them back. The same casket is being used over and over again because people cannot afford to buy one,” Venezuelan opposition leader Julio Borges, who has been living in exile in the Colombian capital of Bogota for the past nine months, told Fox News. “And then they have to wrap the body in plastic bags for the burial. Others don’t have money for a land plot, so they are burying loved ones in their back garden.”

Borges said the “really creepy” problem of how to properly bury the dead has become the norm rather than the exception. Other Venezuelans concurred, indicating the use of “common graves,” along with backyard burials, was becoming standard.

One Venezuelan, who asked his name not be published, described the sudden death of his father in the capital Caracas last week, which left the family without a vehicle to take the body to the morgue. It took more than a day for the body to be collected.

And even then, the family had to say their goodbyes – they had no money for a funeral, or burial – praying the body would be disposed of in some kind of mass cremation.

For every day a body remains in the morgue, the cost rises, leaving families without the means for collection. In such cases, loved ones are simply left stranded – their relatives in mourning, not knowing what to do, and without closure.

“Funeral services are too expensive. Coffins are expensive, as well as paying for a place in the cemetery and everything that comes with it: the chapel for the service, the plate,” Julett Pineda, a health journalist for Efecto Cocuyo in Caracas, told Fox News. “People cannot have a decent funeral.”

Pineda recounted stories of parents who have tried to collect and earn money for the funerals of their own children. But as the economy of the cash-strapped nation continues to deteriorate, all they can afford is the cremation, which costs roughly a third of burial costs.

Pineda’s latest estimate is that funerals in Venezuela cost more than 132 times the average minimum wage earned per month. That's around six dollars per person – making a final farewell far out of reach for most who would need years of savings to cover costs.

“In poorer areas, plywood coffins are sometimes being used,” explained Guillermo Aveledo, a 40-year-old political science professor at the University of Caracas. “Former middle classes can rent a proper coffin for the wake, but prefer cremation, which is cheaper.”

But even the process of cremation has become problematic. Locals described to Fox News the acute lack of natural gas needed to properly incinerate the bodies, despite the fact Venezuela has some of the largest energy reserves in the world. “In some very isolated places, people get used lots for burial, which creates sanitary problems,” Aveledo said.

The shortage of hearses is also an issue. There are fewer and fewer of them available, and the acute fuel shortage - wait times at some gas stations can be as long as 24 hours - makes it harder to keep them running.

In some extreme cases, impoverished Venezuelans are dragging their dead for days in the sweltering sun to reach the Colombian border, where locals are assisting them with some kind of burial.

Alexander Lopez, a disabled Venezuelan from Maracaibo who has resorted to selling keychains, incense, and trash bags for a few cents each in the Ecuadorian town of Cuenca, fled Venezuela six months ago. He left to find work to pay for his 19-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter, saying he could no longer sit by as his family was forced to scour through the trash for food.

Tragically, his son Alexander was killed in a motorcycle accident on the small Venezuelan island state of Nueva Esparta two months ago. For weeks, the body languished at the morgue as family members were unable to afford the bus fare and boat to collect the remains. Lopez’s former wife, Alexander’s mother, was eventually able to use some law enforcement connections to help cobble together the money needed.

But when she got to the morgue, the owners would not release the body - demanding a bribe on top of the standard costs. “Everyone in Venezuela is so desperate for money, even the morgue will manipulate the people,” Lopez wept, holding up his son’s photograph.

For days, Lopez said, his wife trolled the streets and he and others sent whatever funds they could to pay the $150 morgue fee - an amount that far surpasses an average month’s earnings.

After the entire family hustled for further $88 to pay a local gravedigger, Alexander was finally laid to rest in a cemetery. There were no funds for a service, no memorial plaque or tombstone.

“Even with all that,” Lopez said softly, “the dead in Venezuela are still worth more than the living. I am worth nothing to that government.”

Lopez’s story is woven with even more tragedy. Three years ago, as the crisis accelerate, he was injured in a motorcycle accident. His wounded leg became infected a year later, but the lack of affordable medicines and medical professionals led to the loss of his leg, which was amputated.

“All they could do was cut it,” he said, motioning to where his right leg used to be.

IMG_4477.jpg

Families in Venezuela have been forced to resort to backyard burials (Fox News (provided))

That lack of medical attention and resources has fueled a spiking death rate in Venezuela. People are dying today from the most common and treatable infections and diseases - like the common flu.

Violent crime is also on the rise. Last week, two ex-major league baseball players - free agent Luis Valbuena and former player Jose Castillo - were killed in a crash after their car collided with a rock. Authorities believe the rock may have been deliberately placed in the road, as part of a robbery scheme.

“People throw rocks in the hope of stopping the car so they can steal it,” one Venezuelan humanitarian worker explained. “In this case, it ended horribly... Even if these men had survived, there are not adequate means in the hospital to save them.”

According to Aveledo, even the dead aren't immune to the rise in crime.

“Most cemeteries are public municipal lots. But the dearth of public safety exposes the tombs to looting, mourners, and visitors exposed to muggings, and wakes are restricted for a couple of hours during the day,” he said. “The wakes held for criminals are also very disruptive, public displays of their power and control of territories.”

As the country crumbles, so to have the resources to monitor how many have died. One local journalist said a handful of people try to keep tabs. A group of journalists visit the morgues at the end of each week to count the dead, trying to determine how many died from organized crime, and how many perished from “other” causes, like disease or malnutrition.

And that is just in Caracas. For the rest of the country that once had a population of 32 million, it’s anybody’s guess.

There's no indication the situation will improve any time soon. Despite once-brimming oil wealth that had Venezuela as the richest country in Latin America, the Nicolás Maduro-led government - which has continued the socialist policies of his predecessor, Hugo Chavez - has pushed the nation’s economy into dire freefall, upended by massive hyperinflation, food and medicine shortages. More than three million have fled in desperation since for crisis began spiraling out of control three years ago.

The government has denied that Venezuela is in crisis, and instead blames its economic woes on disgruntled opposition members, and the United States.

As for the death industry, like most things in Venezuela, a black market in coffins has emerged. This despite the scarcity of wood and other materials needed to make a casket.

“The price range of a coffin on the black market is about 50 to 100 dollars,” Aveledo said. “Sold on the web, or via messaging.”

Hollie McKay has a been a Fox News Digital staff reporter since 2007. She has extensively reported from war zones including Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Burma and investigates global conflicts, war crimes and terrorism around the world.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/venezuela-crisis-families-cannot-afford-proper-funerals
 
Last edited:
MARIS61 said:
News flash, she was already elected.

Her's the poison she's pushing:

In Venezuelan crisis, families can't even afford to properly bury the dead

By Hollie McKay | Fox News

CUCUTA, Colombia – As the crisis in Venezuela's socialist dictatorship deepens – gripped by mass hunger, starvation and a lack of medical supplies - there is no comfort even for the dead.

“What is happening is medieval. People are ‘renting’ caskets for a service, but giving them back. The same casket is being used over and over again because people cannot afford to buy one,” Venezuelan opposition leader Julio Borges, who has been living in exile in the Colombian capital of Bogota for the past nine months, told Fox News. “And then they have to wrap the body in plastic bags for the burial. Others don’t have money for a land plot, so they are burying loved ones in their back garden.”

Borges said the “really creepy” problem of how to properly bury the dead has become the norm rather than the exception. Other Venezuelans concurred, indicating the use of “common graves,” along with backyard burials, was becoming standard.

One Venezuelan, who asked his name not be published, described the sudden death of his father in the capital Caracas last week, which left the family without a vehicle to take the body to the morgue. It took more than a day for the body to be collected.

And even then, the family had to say their goodbyes – they had no money for a funeral, or burial – praying the body would be disposed of in some kind of mass cremation.

For every day a body remains in the morgue, the cost rises, leaving families without the means for collection. In such cases, loved ones are simply left stranded – their relatives in mourning, not knowing what to do, and without closure.

“Funeral services are too expensive. Coffins are expensive, as well as paying for a place in the cemetery and everything that comes with it: the chapel for the service, the plate,” Julett Pineda, a health journalist for Efecto Cocuyo in Caracas, told Fox News. “People cannot have a decent funeral.”

Pineda recounted stories of parents who have tried to collect and earn money for the funerals of their own children. But as the economy of the cash-strapped nation continues to deteriorate, all they can afford is the cremation, which costs roughly a third of burial costs.

Pineda’s latest estimate is that funerals in Venezuela cost more than 132 times the average minimum wage earned per month. That's around six dollars per person – making a final farewell far out of reach for most who would need years of savings to cover costs.

“In poorer areas, plywood coffins are sometimes being used,” explained Guillermo Aveledo, a 40-year-old political science professor at the University of Caracas. “Former middle classes can rent a proper coffin for the wake, but prefer cremation, which is cheaper.”

But even the process of cremation has become problematic. Locals described to Fox News the acute lack of natural gas needed to properly incinerate the bodies, despite the fact Venezuela has some of the largest energy reserves in the world. “In some very isolated places, people get used lots for burial, which creates sanitary problems,” Aveledo said.

The shortage of hearses is also an issue. There are fewer and fewer of them available, and the acute fuel shortage - wait times at some gas stations can be as long as 24 hours - makes it harder to keep them running.

In some extreme cases, impoverished Venezuelans are dragging their dead for days in the sweltering sun to reach the Colombian border, where locals are assisting them with some kind of burial.

Alexander Lopez, a disabled Venezuelan from Maracaibo who has resorted to selling keychains, incense, and trash bags for a few cents each in the Ecuadorian town of Cuenca, fled Venezuela six months ago. He left to find work to pay for his 19-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter, saying he could no longer sit by as his family was forced to scour through the trash for food.

Tragically, his son Alexander was killed in a motorcycle accident on the small Venezuelan island state of Nueva Esparta two months ago. For weeks, the body languished at the morgue as family members were unable to afford the bus fare and boat to collect the remains. Lopez’s former wife, Alexander’s mother, was eventually able to use some law enforcement connections to help cobble together the money needed.

But when she got to the morgue, the owners would not release the body - demanding a bribe on top of the standard costs. “Everyone in Venezuela is so desperate for money, even the morgue will manipulate the people,” Lopez wept, holding up his son’s photograph.

For days, Lopez said, his wife trolled the streets and he and others sent whatever funds they could to pay the $150 morgue fee - an amount that far surpasses an average month’s earnings.

After the entire family hustled for further $88 to pay a local gravedigger, Alexander was finally laid to rest in a cemetery. There were no funds for a service, no memorial plaque or tombstone.

“Even with all that,” Lopez said softly, “the dead in Venezuela are still worth more than the living. I am worth nothing to that government.”

Lopez’s story is woven with even more tragedy. Three years ago, as the crisis accelerate, he was injured in a motorcycle accident. His wounded leg became infected a year later, but the lack of affordable medicines and medical professionals led to the loss of his leg, which was amputated.

“All they could do was cut it,” he said, motioning to where his right leg used to be.

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Families in Venezuela have been forced to resort to backyard burials (Fox News (provided))

That lack of medical attention and resources has fueled a spiking death rate in Venezuela. People are dying today from the most common and treatable infections and diseases - like the common flu.

Violent crime is also on the rise. Last week, two ex-major league baseball players - free agent Luis Valbuena and former player Jose Castillo - were killed in a crash after their car collided with a rock. Authorities believe the rock may have been deliberately placed in the road, as part of a robbery scheme.

“People throw rocks in the hope of stopping the car so they can steal it,” one Venezuelan humanitarian worker explained. “In this case, it ended horribly... Even if these men had survived, there are not adequate means in the hospital to save them.”

According to Aveledo, even the dead aren't immune to the rise in crime.

“Most cemeteries are public municipal lots. But the dearth of public safety exposes the tombs to looting, mourners, and visitors exposed to muggings, and wakes are restricted for a couple of hours during the day,” he said. “The wakes held for criminals are also very disruptive, public displays of their power and control of territories.”

As the country crumbles, so to have the resources to monitor how many have died. One local journalist said a handful of people try to keep tabs. A group of journalists visit the morgues at the end of each week to count the dead, trying to determine how many died from organized crime, and how many perished from “other” causes, like disease or malnutrition.

And that is just in Caracas. For the rest of the country that once had a population of 32 million, it’s anybody’s guess.

There's no indication the situation will improve any time soon. Despite once-brimming oil wealth that had Venezuela as the richest country in Latin America, the Nicolás Maduro-led government - which has continued the socialist policies of his predecessor, Hugo Chavez - has pushed the nation’s economy into dire freefall, upended by massive hyperinflation, food and medicine shortages. More than three million have fled in desperation since for crisis began spiraling out of control three years ago.

The government has denied that Venezuela is in crisis, and instead blames its economic woes on disgruntled opposition members, and the United States.

As for the death industry, like most things in Venezuela, a black market in coffins has emerged. This despite the scarcity of wood and other materials needed to make a casket.

“The price range of a coffin on the black market is about 50 to 100 dollars,” Aveledo said. “Sold on the web, or via messaging.”

Hollie McKay has a been a Fox News Digital staff reporter since 2007. She has extensively reported from war zones including Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Burma and investigates global conflicts, war crimes and terrorism around the world.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/venezuela-crisis-families-cannot-afford-proper-funerals
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Hey, guy, why do you post entire articles?

Summarize or quote! FFS
 
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