Venezuela Calls Out the Troops

(Source)

All is not well in the "everything is awesome" socialist land of Venezuela. President Nicolás Maduro has called out troops to quell the protests that have been spreading across the nation this past week. Showing all the originality of a socialist leader, he blames the protests on "fascists" trying to undermine the government (which, of course, mirrors the socialist poster-boy, Hitler, with his reaction to communist protests in pre-WWII Germany). From the story:

Venezuelan troops fanned out across the capital, Caracas, and other major cities on Thursday after President Nicolás Maduro ordered a military clampdown against deadly unrest that he warned was part of a "fascist" coup plot. 

Piles of burning rubbish sat smoking along Caracas' main avenue as troops moved to secure the city following an outbreak of street violence that left three dead on Wednesday. Armed soldiers surrounded government buildings and diverted traffic, while riot troops guarded entrances to the shuttered subway system as residents picked their way through broken glass. 

Mr Maduro ordered the arrest of a top opposition leader and a former military chief as he claimed "fascist" forces financed from the United States were plotting against his government. He claimed the civil unrest was part of a plan by "far right" opponents "to bring us to a dog fight, set our people at war, one against another". 

"There will be no coup d'etat in Venezuela, you can rest assured," he vowed, warning that anyone who perpetrated acts of violence or protested without permission would be arrested. 

... Under the slogan "The Exit", meaning the departure of Mr Maduro from power, hardline opposition groups have for the last fortnight been staging protests over the country's searing crime, corruption, rampant inflation and shortages of basic goods. 

But Leopoldo López, the opposition leader now in hiding from an arrest warrant on charges of homicide and conspiracy, said the government had instigated the bloodshed in order to discredit his peaceful movement. 

The opposition blames armed pro-government militant groups known as "colectivos" for attacking their marches. Several times during Wednesday's rally the cry went up: "The colectivos are coming!", sending some demonstrators running for safety. One of those killed was a well-known colectivo leader from "January 23", an impoverished hillside barrio in Caracas that is a key revolutionary stronghold.

Notice the typical socialist reaction. First, ignore the real reasons for the protests (the bad economy, corruption, etc.), and blame the protests on political opponents. Two, narrow the political spectrum to just a narrow band on the left (e.g., socialism and communism) which both represent a collectivist tyranny, and ignore that there might be political beliefs based on individual liberty and rights rather than collectivism.