Dictatorships from 21st century socialism impose helplessness in Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua

Carlos Sánchez Berzaín
October 30, 2024

(Interamerican Institute for Democracy) The people from Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua who live under the dictatorial system of 21st Century Socialism, suffer defenselessness due to the absolute lack of protection and defense of their human rights and basic individual freedoms, without refuge, protection, or help that would mitigate State-terrorism and the brutality they are victims of. International actions must be strengthened to end the crimes that dictatorships have institutionalized.

The population’s helplessness is part of the criminal methodology that Castrochavist dictatorships impose to indefinitely remain in power with impunity. This is about the fact that while facing attacks, abuse, crime, and atrocities from the regime, there is nothing or no one attempting to help the population to mitigate these. By default, the message imposed is that if you do not do or behave as the dictatorship orders you to do, you will be lost with grievous consequences for your life, that of your family, and your personal private property.

The dictatorship can falsely accuse you and -with prosecutors and judges under its control- can sentence you to several years in jail, while your family falls into indigence. In operations to repress peaceful protests, the dictatorship can torture you and cause you serious harm and grievous injury. It can also physically and psychologically torture you to return you to “freedom” branded by serious physical and emotional trauma. The dictatorship can assassinate your reputation, or physically erase you, or choose to attack your loved ones until you breakdown. The dictatorship can do it all with impunity. . . and that is helplessness.

These criminal acts that could be the script for terror movies are happening each and every day since many years ago in Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua but now have become crisis, when Venezuela’s dictatorship has been defeated and in order to mitigate its breakdown the regime, using State-terrorism and crimes against humanity, has collectively implemented the most brutal repression to be able to remain in power.

Dictatorships from 21st Century Socialism know they are crumbling down in Venezuela, despite their strategy that commands to never surrender power, reason why they escalate repression and terrorism in each and every country they control. The more they are weakened, the more escalation of violations of human rights that include the taking of foreign hostages to be later used as negotiation tokens, the greater support to terrorism and the greater subordination to dictatorships from overseas.

In Cuba, the situation of helplessness is called misery, total blackouts of electricity coupled to threats of imprisonment and torture for anyone who dares to complaint. Internationalist and internal slavery, dependence on the remittance of monies by exiles who have no other option but to help their families, political prisoners, ostentatious life styles of the dictatorial elite, narco-State terrorists, and their “leave while you can” attitude.

In Venezuela, helplessness is written with blood, with assassinations with previous torture, with the public and personal protest and its public dissemination of opposition’s leaders such as Edwin Santos whose killing is a clear signal of intimidation. Santos was vexed, tortured, and killed and his assassination was broadcasted as a policy of State-terrorism with the warning as a criminal threat of “who follows?” Helplessness is also about; the underaged children who were imprisoned and disappeared, the international protests without significant or effective results that serve the regime well to affirm their methodology of fear in order to attempt to subject the active and peaceful civil resistance under the leadership of Maria Corina Machado and thousands of anonymous heroes.

In Bolivia, helplessness is expressed through roadway blockades against the impunity of its Dictator-In-Chief Evo Morales, while the Dictator in Power Luis Arce tries to keep himself in power sacrificing regular troops from the Police and the Army as well as his own irregular groups as cannon fodder, surrendering and delivering natural resources and sovereignty to Russia, China, and Iran. The axis of confrontation in the bowels of the organized crime that controls Bolivia is the impunity of Evo Morales for crimes such as; trafficking of minors, statutory rape, pedophilia, and others, against the desperation to keep himself in power to be able to continue to thrive from Luis Arce, all while Bolivians suffer a crisis due to the shortage of fuels, foodstuff, and U.S. Dollars.

Nicaragua’s dictatorship has the population subjected and in a situation of helplessness with constant detentions, torture, exiles, deportations, confiscations, and assassinations that include the suspicious death of the dictator’s brother following an interview with INFOBAE. The existing prohibition mandating that “no mission of any international organization shall be able enter the country without the regime’s previous invitation or authorization…” describes the jail that Nicaragua is today, and replicates what Cuba, Venezuela, and Bolivia had also done previously.

Helplessness is worse than slavery. It is the subjection, or the roadway to the cross, witnessed by thousands of human beings without any rights, resources, options, or protection. Let us hope the democratic world can assist them to regain their freedom to give them back the freedom for which today they fight alone.

*Attorney & Political Scientist. Director of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy.

Translation from Spanish by Edgar L. Terrazas

Published in Spanish by infobae.com Monday October 28, 2024