Murder Inc. - Venezuela

Outgoing Miss Universe Stephania Fernandez waves the pre-Chavez Venezuelan flag in Las Vegas. Many are taking this as a sign of protest against Chavez and his totalitarian government, especially people inside Venezuela. Photo - Reuters.

Why is everyone upset with the Chavez run government? Maybe because the murder rate in the capital Caracas has skyrocketed from 34 deaths per 100,000 via gun violence in 2007 to the staggering rate of 233 deaths per 100,000 now.

Investors Business Daily article linked above argues this spiralling death rate is part of Chavez's plan to subjugate the country under his iron fist. It has happened before in history. If you can afford to hire thugs to do nothing but intimidate people; the average person who needs to work and feed the family will leave the political scene to tend to those needs while the thugs stay. So the employer of the thugs wins. Ask Lenin. Though in Chavez's case it seems he has outsourced the killing of people to more common street gangs.

What is even more troubling in the IBD article is how deeply FARC and other narco-terrorists have wormed their way into Chavez's government. What a cheery thought it would be for New York City to find its whole Port Authority suborned by organized crime. That is what is being reported in Venezuela. So the writer of the IBD article wonders how long will Chavez stay in power with this kind of rot going on.

To bolster the argument/contention from Colombia that Venezuela does harbor narco-terrorists like FARC comes this article. My Spanish is not the best but the map is pretty telling. Pin-pointing camps on the Venezuelan side of the Venezuelan-Colombian border like 1,500 FARC thugs along with where various drug kingpins might be found.

It would be the ultimate irony if Chavez is ousted not by Colombia or a concerted effort from the OAS, but from the inside. By the narco-terrorists who want to ensure their sanctuary does not vanish on them. Sometimes the enemy of your enemy is also your enemy.