Venezuelan exile warns U.S. youth’s socialist surge mirrors past ruin
A Venezuelan refugee argues that the growing popularity of socialism among American young adults echoes the policies that devastated his homeland.
The columnist, who escaped Venezuela, describes how Hugo Chávez’s shift to “socialism of the 21st century” led to expropriations, price controls, blackouts and the largest peacetime economic collapse in the Western Hemisphere, creating widespread hunger and displacement. He cites a survey indicating that 53 % of American young adults view socialism positively and 38 % view communism positively, despite its 20th-century death toll.
He argues that the allure of socialist slogans overlooks these historical outcomes, and that U.S. politics is adopting similar resentment-based tactics, exemplified by New York Mayor Mamdani’s video targeting billionaire Ken Griffin over a second-home tax. He notes that both left-wing and right-wing populists weaponize perceived enemies to justify extreme policies, warning that totalitarianism is a gradual process. The piece ends with a caution that those who witnessed Venezuela’s collapse urge the United States not to repeat the same path.
Why it matters
It highlights how rising socialist sentiment in the U.S. could repeat the economic and political failures seen in Venezuela.
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