HAVANA, Cuba.- One of the common places that, with great self-sufficiency, the socialists most advertise in their lying propaganda, is that the system The kind of thing they advocate—supposedly—puts an end to what they call the “anarchy of production” inherent in capitalism. Those of us who have had the misfortune of suffering under regimes with a red tendency know that this is just another hoax spread by their agitators.
To begin with, the mere idea that a bunch of fat bureaucrats, sitting around a ministry table, they can be able to determine what the requirements of millions of people will be, what products they will need and in what proportions. Even less will be their success if they try to determine what inputs should be destined for the different factories and what production will be achieved in each of them.
Under the “anarchy of the production”, millions of entrepreneurs try to satisfy the most diverse needs of people. Guided by the free market and by prices that are democratically and spontaneously established, these entrepreneurs try to please even the most demanding consumers. This is how production experiences constant diversification and improvement.
Electric energy
All this is conspicuous by its absence under the greyness of socialism. It is not just that the innovations; even the basics of the economy are often in short supply! We Cubans know this, as we have been forced to buy imported sugar for several years to make up for the meager quota assigned to us by the “ration book”, which usually arrives late and in poor condition!
A similar regression has been observed in Chavez’s Venezuela with the production of oil and its derivatives. I comment: Thank goodness that the reds who idealized the genocidal tyrant Joseph Stalin did not triumph in Spain! If they had had their way, wine and olive oil would have disappeared in our Motherland!
These bitter considerations come to mind when, precisely in Cuba and Venezuela, we focus on a fundamental line of the economy which is the generation of electrical energy. The founder of so-called “real socialism,” the genocidal maniac known by his criminal alias “Lenin,” proudly proclaimed that “socialism is Soviet power and the electrification of the entire country.”
And the progress in electrification?
But in the Caribbean countries of socialism things are going in a different direction. It is true that in our Island, in the initial years of the new regime, there was some progress in the electrification from remote rural areas. This was because the Reds were able to take advantage of the residues of the prosperous economy they found when they came to power. But that is water under the bridge.
For decades, the Castro-communistsDespite their much-publicized “socialist planning,” they have not planned or done anything to support the production of electric energy. The plants that exist are, in essence, the same old junk that was installed in the days when the “socialist camp” still existed. To make matters worse, they have been running on the terrible national crude oil, which deteriorates them more quickly due to its high sulfur content.
The “solution” (some name must be given to it) has consisted in turning what should be something exceptional (the generation deficit) into something “normal”. To this end, every television newscast never lacks a boring report, in which a government official Electric Union makes a tight inventory of the units that are out of service, the expected demand and the resulting duration of the blackouts that ordinary Cubans will have to endure.
The Venezuelan electrical system
In fraternal Venezuela things are going differently. From time to time, every time the electricity supply is interrupted, the dictator Maduro or one of his lackeys denounces the existence of a supposed “sabotage“perpetrated by the sell-out opponents (now it has become fashionable to call them “fascists”). The cotorrones claim that it is a way of harassing and martyring the people.
No details are ever offered about what the hypothetical “sabotage” consisted of, what specific acts were perpetrated or who the direct perpetrators are. Nor are there any photos of the damage supposedly caused. In any case, the responsibility of the opposition leadership is hinted at, which, despite the arbitrary “disqualification” of which she was a victim, continues to be held by the founder of Come on, Venezuelathe great fighter Maria Corina Machado.
Questioned about this for the newspaper Maturedthe prominent leader declared this Monday: “It is an unequivocal reflection that there is a process of internal collapse.” Some professionals specialized in the energy issue have preferred to make more concrete statements. This is the case of Juan Aguilar, who Panam Post describes himself as an “international energy generation and risk consultant.”
The regime lies
According to Mr. Aguilar, “the regime continually lies to the nation. It has been hiding the truth for 5,035 consecutive days” about the “true state of the Venezuelan electrical system.” Regarding the most recent widespread blackout suffered in the Liberator’s Homeland, Mr. Juan denies that it is due to sabotage, and attributes it to “a ‘persistent inability’ of the Nicolás Maduro regime to be able to control its operations.”
The user who identifies himself as José, with a more irreverent language, puts his finger on the sore spot in a tweet X (before Twitter). He asks: “How the hell does the opposition manage to sabotage the Electric System and cause a National Blackout if all the electrical installations are militarized?” And, referring to the South American country’s energy corporation by its acronym, he concludes: “It’s Corpoelec’s fault.”
And so it is, between blackouts and lights, that the unfortunate Caribbean subjects of “21st century socialism” eke out a living in their respective countries. The excuses presented by those in power, with the intention of hiding the sun with a finger, are diverse. But they are nothing more than pretexts that try to justify the sad socialist reality, characterized by hunger, misery and desperation.
