“How does the fourth richest country in the world develop the largest refugee crisis on the planet?” asked Daniel DiMartino at his lecture on Tuesday, March 17, in Driscoll Hall 132 Auditorium.
The event was part of a series by the Matthew J. Ryan Center for the Study of Free Institutions and the Public Good. DiMartino is a Ph.D. candidate at Columbia University and a Graduate Fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
DiMartino discussed Venezuelan history, relaying events that led to the country’s present-day dismal conditions.
He clarified that Venezuela was not always a poor country but was in fact among the wealthiest in the mid-1900’s. Today, Venezuela faces hyperinflation, food shortages, power blackouts and rampant crime.
DiMartino described his Venezuelan roots and his grandfather’s arrival in Venezuela when it was prosperous before losing everything to socialism and fleeing the country. DiMartino himself fled to America at age 17.
He discussed possible sources of the crises that led millions to flee Venezuela, drawing comparisons between other countries to rule out certain causes. He considered that Venezuela has hardly been a warring country, yet now has more refugees than countries like Iran or Ukraine. Debunking the idea that Venezuela failed because of corruption or oil dependency, DiMartino emphasized that these factors are not exclusive to Venezuela. Many countries are dependent on oil and are riddled with corruption, but are not facing the same problems as Venezuela.
He instead argued that the primary cause of the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela is the country’s socialist system and policies.
He described how socialism emerged in Venezuela when the government overtook everything from farmland to businesses and the media.
Venezuelans that were living under the socialist regime did not anticipate needing to flee and hoped things would return to normal.
“But then, 20 years go by, and things get worse,” DiMartino said. “The people running the government stay the same, the blackouts get worse, there’s no water and suddenly you’re living in a third-world country.”
He connected the dire consequences of socialism in Venezuela to socialist ideas circulating in the United States.
“We are being sold bills of socialist ideas, like free healthcare,” DiMartino said. “But if healthcare is a human right, then so is food. So what’s more important, food or hospitals?”
He continued that if one thinks the government should pay for everything, then it is logical to believe the government should own everything and make decisions for all citizens.
He illustrated this by recounting a dystopian Venezuela where the clerk at a grocery store took his fingerprint to tell him the food he was allowed to purchase.
DiMartino described the thrill of Venezuelans at the United States military’s recent capture of Venezuelan dictator Maduro, while voicing concerns of socialism rising in the United States.
DiMartino argued that many Americans are being deceived about what is happening in Venezuela and that people are “trying to turn the United States into Venezuela.”
He claimed that Americans are told we can simply take money from the rich to give to the poor.
“The real agenda is for the government to take our businesses, properties and freedoms, and make us become like Venezuela,” DiMartino said.
DiMartino shared what comes to mind when he thinks about the United States.
“You don’t think of socialism,” DiMartino said. “You think of liberty. You think of the opposite of socialism.”
DiMartino concluded his speech with warnings of socialism’s threat to America.
“I already fled one country, and I do not want to have to flee another,” DiMartino said.
