CARACAS, Venezuela – Socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro is spending quality vacation time in Egypt on the occasion of his participation in the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) held in the city of Sharm El Sheikh.
While the socialist dictator visited the Giza pyramid complex, Venezuelans, who can only dream of engaging in tourism of that kind, continue to face the consequences of Bolivarian Socialism in the country.
Maduro, for whom the U.S. State Department has an active $15 million bounty out for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction, has used the COP27 climate conference to reap international legitimacy and rebuild diplomatic relations after much of the free world condemned him for clinging to power through sham presidential elections in 2018.
The socialist dictator’s weekend visit to the Giza pyramids was highlighted by Egypt’s State Information Service, noting that Maduro, his family, and entourage had visited landmarks such as the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx before moving onto the Egyptian Museum of Tahrir and especially the collection of King Tutankhamun, where they were “very interested” in taking souvenir photos with the Golden Mask of the Egyptian pharaoh.
The socialist dictator published a video of his visit to the pyramids on Wednesday through his account on the Chinese social media platform TikTok. In the video, Maduro is seen interacting and taking pictures with several tourists of different countries.
@nicolasmadurom Somos bendecidos de contar con el cariño sincero de hermanos y hermanas del mundo. ¡Gracias a #Egipto por regalarnos esta experiencia tan maravillosa!
“We are blessed to have the sincere affection of brothers and sisters around the world. Thanks to Egypt for giving us such a wonderful experience!” the text that accompanied the video read.
On the same day, Madelein García, journalist with the left-wing propaganda network Telesur and with deep ties with the Maduro regime, published a video on her TikTok account titled “Behind the scenes at COP27,” in which socialist lawmaker and Maduro’s close assistant Juan Escalona, communication minister Freddy Ñañez, and Maduro are seen attempting to take pictures “touching” the pyramids through perspective shots.
@madeleinperiodista Tras cámaras de la #COP27
García’s TikTok video prompted backlash from users, many of whom were anonymous or used pseudonyms, as Venezuelans are subject to a fierce “anti-hate speech” law since 2017 that can get any citizen up to 20 years in prison for posting “hateful” comments or creating any sort of content in any form of media that the regime deems “hateful.” The law’s definition of what constitutes “hate speech” was left ambiguous by design and is up to the discretion of the socialist regime.
“Socialism is so good, where politicians live traveling and people are screwed by a system that does not work,” one of the anonymous comments read.
“Living the life of kings, while the people don’t have [anything] to eat,” another anonymous commenter wrote.
A supporter of Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed acting president Juan Guaido holds a sign reading “Going Hungry” during a gathering in front of the Bolivian embassy in Caracas on November 16, 2019. (CRISTIAN HERNANDEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
“Yes, I will go this week on vacation with the wage that the ministry pays me,” a user under the name Miguel Colmenarez wrote. Venezuela’s current minimum wage is 130 bolivars per month — roughly $14.56 at the official exchange rate at the time of publication.
While Maduro and his entourage enjoyed some of Egypt’s tourist landmarks, Venezuelans, still living through “Bolivarian Socialism,” continue to wrestle against the aftermath of socialism’s collapse during the 2010s.
The Venezuelan Finance Observatory, a non-government organization, reported on Tuesday that, unlike what the regime’s “official” statistics claim, inflation in Venezuela during the month of October was 14.5 percent, bringing 2022’s accumulated inflation to 142.6 percent so far.
By October the country’s latest iteration of the Venezuelan bolivar, the “digital” bolivar, had lost half of its value within its first year of circulation. On November 10, the Bolivar-USD exchange rate had reached upwards of 10.42 per dollar at non-official markets.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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