A Venezuelan migrant shared his thoughts on Americans who support socialism, making clear he left his home country to get away from that very economic system.
“I’m sure that the people who say [they support socialism] don’t know the reality of socialism,” the migrant tells Daily Caller reporter Jorge Ventura, according to a translation by the Washington Examiner.
“These people are the middle class and upper-middle class. And they’re leaving [Venezuela],” he added, pointing to other migrants trekking to the United States.
I asked a Venezuelan migrant on his thoughts on Americans that support socialism,”They shouldn’t be in the United States” he responds. He says they don’t know the reality of socialism and thats the reason he left his home country with just his backpack, daughter and his wife pic.twitter.com/sqcUSctYwa
— Jorge Ventura Media (@VenturaReport) May 26, 2021
Ventura has been reporting on the border crisis from Del Rio, Texas, over the last week, where authorities have encountered nearly 70,000 migrants between October and March. On Wednesday, agents arrested over 90 Venezuelan migrants in just one hour.
The influx of migrants from socialist Venezuela comes as more Americans embrace the economic philosophy the migrants are fleeing. Polls show the trend is particularly striking among Democratic voters, with 56% of Democrats expressing a favorable view of socialism leading up to the 2020 election. By contrast, 26% of Republicans expressed a favorable view of the economic system.
POLL SHOWS A DISTURBINGLY HIGH NUMBER OF YOUNG PEOPLE WOULD VOTE FOR A SOCIALIST
Venezuela’s ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, under the leadership of President Nicolas Maduro, has responded to the country’s economic woes by “increasing state control over the economy,” according to the U.S. Department of State.
“President Maduro has used decree powers to pass laws that erode foreign investors’ rights; deepen the state’s role as the primary buyer and marketer of imports; tighten the currency control regime; and empower the GBRV to cap business profits and regulate prices throughout the economy,” the Department of State’s summary of the South American nation reads.
A deepening economic crisis has shifted 33% of the country’s citizens below the poverty line, causing many of its citizens to flee in hopes of a new life in the U.S. or South American neighboring countries such as Brazil.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Unlike other refugee crises, the Venezuelan one is not the result of conventional war or conflict. But the conditions Venezuelans face daily are not much different than those in an active war zone. Since 2013 the Venezuelan economy has contracted by 65 percent, the largest contraction outside of war in 45 years,” a Brookings Institution analysis of the crisis reads.
“But the Venezuelan economic collapse, which preceded international sanctions, stands out because it was not triggered by external forces or internal unrest: It was manufactured by those in power, and thus, was totally avoidable.”
