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    Colombia’s earthquake is déjà vu for Venezuelans. The government response is anything but


    Excerpt:

    The contrast is a reminder of the differences between the neighboring nations — their political systems, resources and the strength of their institutions — and a demonstration of how those can take on life-or-death importance in catastrophes.

    “The differences between an authoritarian regime and a democratic system can be seen clearly in the institutions and in their capacity to respond to an emergency,” said Ronal Rodríguez, a Venezuela specialist at Colombia’s Rosario University. “Crises are also political opportunities.”

    Posted by Mathp1ant

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    1. Mathp1ant on

      Submission statement: Two earthquakes; one in Venezuela and one in Colombia, demonstrate the importance of liberal democratic political institutions in disaster response. Liberal democracy literally saves lives.

    2. Honest_Yamal_Fan on

      Not one mention of Marco Rubio in this report. Rodríguez is a puppet leader who has relinquished control of the government to the Trump administration. For example, the first point contrasts the difference in response timings from Rodríguez to De La Espriella. The reality behind the scenes:

      > The Trump administration even exerts control over Ms. Rodríguez’s public appearances and statements. In May, Mr. Rubio announced that Ms. Rodríguez would travel to India before the Venezuelan government mentioned it, surprising Venezuelan officials and foreign diplomats. When the Fox News anchor Bret Baier contacted Ms. Rodríguez about participating in an interview, she told him that Mr. Trump would have to approve. Mr. Trump loved that Ms. Rodríguez was deferring to him, and has repeatedly recounted the story to others when they ask about her, according to multiple people familiar with his comments.

      > When the United States attacked Iran, Yvan Gil, Venezuela’s foreign minister, issued a soft condemnation of the aggression against Venezuela’s longtime ally.
      The Trump administration communicated to Ms. Rodríguez that the post should be taken down, and warned her not to publicly support its adversaries again. Mr. Gil deleted the post hours after posting it. In effect, it was an admission that Venezuela no longer set its foreign policy.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/us/politics/how-marco-rubio-runs-venezuela.html

      Venezuela has a multitude of issues to overcome, but ignoring the elephant in the room when it’s this large is bad journalism.

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