Venezuelan Migrant Fleeing Across U.S. Border Slams Americans Who ‘Don’t Know The Reality Of Socialism’
June 01-
“These people are the middle class and upper-middle class.”
A migrant crossing the southern U.S. border from Venezuela with just his wife, his daughter, and a backpack said he doesn’t believe supporters of socialism should be in the United States and warned they are ignorant of its catastrophic consequences.
Speaking earlier this week with Jorge Ventura, a reporter with the Daily Caller who has been reporting on the border crisis from Del Rio, Texas, the migrant man said, “I’m sure that the people who say [they support socialism] don’t know the reality of socialism,” according to a translation by The Washington Examiner.
“These people are the middle class and upper-middle class,” the man further explained, indicating to the other migrants around him. “And they’re leaving [Venezuela].”
WATCH:
As the Daily Caller reported:
Between October and March, agents have encountered over 68,000 migrants, four times the number in the same period last year, according to border patrol officals in the Del Rio sector. Border patrol agents in the Del Rio sector apprehended over 90 Venezuelan migrants in just one hour Wednesday.
The migrant group crossed the Rio Grande River with many children as the Texas State Troopers awaited them. The state troopers helped the migrants before processing began. Once on U.S. soil, some of the migrants kissed the ground and prayed to the sky. One migrant told the Daily Caller that he was happy to escape the socialism back in his home country that is ruining the lives of middle class citizens.
The flood of refugees from Venezuela to neighboring South American countries and the U.S. comes as the country’s economic turmoil has plunged 33% of the population below the poverty line, according to The World Factbook.
According to the U.S. State Department, “[Venezuelan] 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.”
“Unlike other refugee crises, the Venezuelan one is not the result of conventional war or conflict,” according to the Brookings Institution. “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.”
“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.”
Fifty-six percent of Democrats look favorably on socialism, according to a Hill-HarrisX poll last August. Among Republicans, only 26% approved of socialism, while 48% of independents approved.
