In Del Rio, Texas, reporter Jorge Ventura spoke on Wednesday with a Venezuelan migrant who had strong words against supporters of socialism in America.
"I asked a Venezuelan migrant on his thoughts on Americans that support socialism. 'They shouldn't be in the United States' he responds. He says they don't know the reality of socialism and that's the reason he left his home country with just his backpack, daughter and his wife," wrote Ventura in the tweet.
I asked a Venezuelan migrant on his thoughts on Americans that support socialism,"They shouldn't be in the United States" he responds. He says they don't know the reality of socialism and thats the reason he left his home country with just his backpack, daughter and his wife pic.twitter.com/sqcUSctYwa
— Jorge Ventura Media (@VenturaReport) May 26, 2021
The following is translated from the original Spanish:
Ventura first asks the unidentified man, part of the Venezuelan migrant group, if he "has any message" for individuals who support socialism. The man responds:
"They shouldn't come to the US then, [if they are socialists], honestly."
"If they support socialism and want to come to the US, they shouldn't be here. It's better that they actually go to a socialist country so they can see [the conditions] for themselves," the man stated.
"It's easy to talk about socialism from within the US, right? No. People who support socialism, who say those things, they should go live in socialism. Definitely, people who support socialism have never experienced it personally," he said. "You see these people here? Everybody here is middle and upper-middle class, who are leaving. People in the lower classes aren't here because they don't even have the means to get here."
"Everybody here had to sell a house, sell a car, sell something or other, and come here like I did. I'm here with my wife, my daughter and these backpacks. That's all we have," the man explained to the camera.
The Brookings Institution has released a thorough analysis of what has happened in the nation of Venezuela, which reads, in part:
“Unlike other refugee crises, the Venezuelan one is not the result of conventional war or conflict. 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," the analysis continues.
"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."