Here’s one for the history books. In the wake of the tragic shootings that took place this weekend Venezuela, Latin America’s most dangerous country (or socialist paradise, depending on your point of view), has issued a travel advisory warning its citizens not to travel to the United States…

…

Because it is “dangerous” here.

Venezuela? VENEZUELA.

Excuse me if I don’t feel shame when a country where cartels literally run towns and their money loses value in the time it takes to deposit tells their citizens not to come HERE because it is dangerous. Come on, this has to be a joke.

Here are a few of the best headlines from the last year alone on Venezuela’s model socialist society. Enjoy.

Venezuela Crisis: No running water, no power, no medicine

Probably my favorite on here. This Sky news special from March highlighted the “longest nationwide power outage in world history” that plunged the South American nation “into chaos”.

Meat rotting away in open air markets without refrigeration. Hyperinflation meaning “there is no local money”.

“What was normally considered an absolute given in this society is falling apart, and not slowly.”

Chilling. Watch the segment.

La Linea Gang Takes Hold On Colombia-Venezuela Border

Not surprising for a country that banned private gun ownership in 2012. Under the law “only the army, police and certain groups like security companies will be able to buy arms from the state-owned weapons manufacturer and importer.” – which I bet most Venezuelans wish were true, but sadly is not, as the guns used to shake down these poor, starving people are readily available to the country’s terrifyingly strong organized crime faction.

From the article: “Authorities have recorded one shooting per week this month in the area surrounding the Simón Bolívar International Bridge, which connects Villa del Rosario in Colombia with San Antonio de Táchira in Venezuela.” In addition, the firefights have taken place between the gang “La Linea” and a paramilitary force made up of former soldiers who are vying for control of trafficking routes.

Read more here.

Venezuela’s Collapse Worst Outside Of War In Decades

That’s right. Even the ultra-liberal New York Times has declared Venezuela a “collapsed” nation. In this rather lengthy piece, though, the New York Times offers a stark story of reality for the people of Venezuela.

From the article: “As the country’s economy plummeted, armed gangs took control of entire towns, public services collapsed and the purchasing power of most Venezuelans has been reduced to a couple of kilograms of flour a month.”

Outside of war-torn Libya, Lebanon or the Soviet Union itself, experts are hard-pressed to find a collapse as awful as this one. Read more here.

Gold mining may be all that’s keeping Venezuela in business. Organized crime runs it

Not that we’d expect much more from a country that bans guns for the average citizen, but Venezuela’s gang and violence problem is reaching epidemic levels. The mafia state even runs the nation’s gold mining capital, which is the only thing keeping it from sliding deeper into chaos.

From the article: “Gold mining in the area used to be run by transnational corporations. Now, criminal groups and armed gangs monopolize the business. And the people of El Callao, like many villages in the south, have learned to live with the terror spread by armed groups.”

Sounds like a gun-free, socialist paradise to me! Read more here.

This may sound tongue in cheek, but it is sad. What’s more sad, though, is the thinly veiled attempt by the mainstream media to paint this wildly hypocritical travel advisory from Venezuela to the US as just another reason to take OUR guns. Get real.

About the Author

Cody McLaughlin is a vocal activist, noted conservationist and conservative thought leader on public policy issues including hunting, fishing, gun rights, free-market tax and wage policy and the environment. He is a contributor for the NRA’s Hunters’ Leadership Forum and a trustee of the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance, representing the state’s 1.2 million sportsmen in the political arena. You can find him on twitter at @mclaugh19