Michelle Malkin » This is what the thuggish redistribution of wealth looks like

This is what the thuggish redistribution of wealth looks like

By Michelle Malkin • October 6, 2009 01:44 PM

A.M. Mora y Leon tipped me to this video last night of Chavista thugs confiscating farms across Venezuela. A.M. notes the parallels to what Lenin, Mao and Castro did: “But this time, some farmer had the presence of mind to turn on his cellphone camera and film the thuggery as it happened. This makes it really different. Can you imagine what things would be like if Kulaks had had a cellphone camera? It’s incredible what dictators have gotten away with and might not with this clip:”

Fausta Wertz provides translation:

A group of red shirt-wearing Chavista thugs show up at a farm and seize the farm in the name of the government, under the pretext that the 103 hectare farm is “idle land” and that the law allows them to take it over for “food production.”

The farmer protests politely, explaining that he’s been raising cattle on his farm for 23 years. He is rebuffed by another guy, who says, “this is not going to be a debate; this is a public act approved by the Venezuelan people. I’m governor and I’m here to ensure public order. There won’t be a debate, I ask you to listen to the document, after which the public will take charge of the land.”

When the farmer’s wife protests, he tells her to discuss it in court.

Chavez controls the judiciary.

The farmer is told to sign the form, and then to gather the animals so they can be accounted for.

When another one of the people who lived at the farm tries to ask a question, the man who identified himself as the governor insists that “this is not a debate, this is not a meeting, and if there’s any disruption, the public force is here,” pointing to the crowd in red shirts.

The American Left refers to this as the “persuasion of power.”

Posted in: Hugo Chavez

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#819037

On October 7th, 2009 at 8:51 am, orlandocajun said:

It always amazes me that dictators like Chavez can keep the military loyal to their regime. Soldiers are just sons and daughters of the people. What does it take for a dictator to keep them loyal to communism?
#819042

On October 7th, 2009 at 9:10 am, Speakup said:

On October 7th, 2009 at 8:51 am, orlandocajun said:

What does it take for a dictator to keep them loyal to communism?

The threat of a great deal of harm coming to their families, not so different than if the government comes to your house to confiscate something here, if you fight, you and your family will lose all that they have, one way or another the government will be harsh for having the courage to stand up against authority no matter how wrong authority is.
#819048

On October 7th, 2009 at 9:21 am, jangar said:

Speakup said:

It was the same way in USSR. Former soldiers and family members have written memoirs documenting this. Yeck, we’ve even had a few Hollyweird movies made that told the same story…Hollywood of all people!
#819067

On October 7th, 2009 at 9:59 am, Bogtrotter said:

orlandocajun said: “What does it take for a dictator to keep them loyal to communism?”

Goods & Services given as rewards to carefully selected favorite local level bosses who can then give the same to underlings willing to do thier bidding. Of course, the tough part here would be the necessary first step of disarming the populace. Invasive “state security” is also necessary. And speaking of the latter, I am more worried with each passing day about the electronic trail/fingerprint I leave on the net. Think about it. How hard would it be for a fledgling dictatorial regime to gain control of citizens on-line banking and use it as a club to punish people it does not like?
#819073

On October 7th, 2009 at 10:05 am, mytake said:

Anyone who thinks there won’t be a peaceful transfer of wealth here in the USA hasn’t had their eyes open. Suppose you were the one with the General Motors bonds that were placed behind the union. Suppose you were an auto dealership that was closed. Suppose you just payed your taxes so that someone else was able to get your money for turning in their car. We are asleep and we are losing our rights by the day. And now they are telling us that the will to resist this takeover of health care is waning. What is wrong with our country? It must mean that the majority want the car companies run by the government and next will be the farms.
#819077

On October 7th, 2009 at 10:09 am, John Deaux said:

On October 7th, 2009 at 8:51 am, orlandocajun said:
What does it take for a dictator to keep them loyal to communism?

It’s simple carrots and sticks. Rewards for the informer and severe punishment for the disloyal. Once the atmosphere of paranoia is present, it’s pretty easy to keep up. If you don’t know who to trust, it’s tough to organize.
#819543

On October 7th, 2009 at 7:56 pm, rocketman said:

***
HI SPEAKUP–I enjoyed your post on the Venezuelan government planning to limit each person to 50 cartridges a year.
***
When I was in U.S. Army basic training in 1964 the “spray and pray” mentality hadn’t set in yet. We were expected to quickly hit 50 camouflaged pop-up targets each session at the rifle range–one shot per target. One or more green targets came up in a forested “fire lane” at ranges from 50 yards to 400 yards range. They stayed up about 5 seconds and then went back into hiding in the ground level pits.
***
Most of the trainees got 90 percent scores–or higher–after a month’s practice. This type of shooting would give 45 dead communist land redistributing thugs per year for each Venezuelan farmer with 50 shots.
***
The math works out for me! Bring it on. Ronald Reagan would have sent 100,000 “obsolete” M1 rifles to Venezuela–along with some Green Beret types to train the farmers. In a year or so the problems (and commies) would all be gone.
***
John Bibb
***