Bernie Sanders could have had been president, that guys has an article on his official website praising venezuela:
Context is everything here. Firstly, he was talking specifically about their income equality situation. How you feel about that figure is irrelevant, it's still a useful metric. Second, he posted that in 2011. Things were still pretty decent from an economic standpoint in 2011. They lost around 66% of their income because the oil market became saturated, devaluing it. One-sided economies inevitably collapse and, when they do, shit goes down. That's what happened in Venezuela. They also had a populist totalitarian leader, which didn't help matters.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/07/26/news/economy/venezuela-economic-crisis/index.html
I don't know all the talking points that the left uses to even provide counter points. Most of what I've see is, from my understanding, down to interpretation and not concrete. Bad things are bad and yes, it's well documented that the government bodies have done some bad shit in the name of science or foreign policy. A lot of that took place during Cold War times where the US policy was akin to, "you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet." I'm not saying it's right, it's just the way it was. Shit times called for shit measures, apparently.
I'm aware of the infamous pay gap and I disagree with it as I also feel it's erased when you factor in all the variables at hand. My belief is that men and women are equal in value but different in ability, into which the pay gap myth fits perfectly. If you have more than anecdotal situations where the woman is literally equal in every way to the man and she's making 71% of her male counterpart, then we'll talk. That situation seems to be a unicorn, though. If it is found, it's a single company run by WWII-era men. That issue will be gone to old age soon. Let women be equal, but give them everything that comes with it as well.
Second, he posted that in 2011. Things were still pretty decent from an economic standpoint in 2011.
See how venezuelas national debt to GDB had started to drastically increase years before 2011:
They also had a populist totalitarian leader, which didn't help matters.
And they started to noticeably accumulate inflation prior to the most recent presidential election.
If a socialist country takes lots of debt and inflation I see it like a guy buying expensive furniture and a rolex on a credit he cannot afford. If it were a working and sustainable system it wouldn't be necessary no increase debt, but it seems to fool many people.
Similar trends are noticable in other western countries, but to a lesser extend.
They lost around 66% of their income because the oil market became saturated, devaluing it.
"In March 2017, Venezuela, with the largest oil reserves in the world, began having shortages of gasoline in some regions with reports that fuel imports had begun."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela#Shortages
"Venezuela is suffering gasoline shortages despite having the world's largest oil reserves; Venezuelan refineries are operating significantly below capacity because they are facing operational problems due to a lack of investments and maintenance. Falling output at refineries means that Venezuela needs to import more gasoline, squeezing the national budget even further"
"‘They are importing barrels that cost $80 to $90 and selling them at $0’"
I think Venezuelas economic problems go much further than saturation of the oil market.
The difference I see is that one side does has very recent examples of government abuse to point at wheras the gender paygap is almost nonexistent if you factor in work hours and profession.
"The operation was officially sanctioned in 1953, was reduced in scope in 1964, further curtailed in 1967, and officially halted in 1973.[3] The program engaged in many illegal activities,[4][5][6] including the use of U.S. and Canadian citizens as its unwitting test subjects, which led to controversy regarding its legitimacy.[4](p74)[7][8][9] MKUltra used numerous methods to manipulate people's mental states and alter brain functions, including the surreptitious administration of drugs (especially LSD) and other chemicals, hypnosis,[10][11] sensory deprivation, isolation, verbal and sexual abuse (including the sexual abuse of children), and other forms of torture.[12][13]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MKUltra
There might be a lot of rumors about MKUltra that are most probably bullshit and it became part of pop-culture in for example stranger things, but it is a program that actually existed with real declassified documents according to which the U.S. Government has tortured and sexually abused children.
"The scope of Project MKUltra was broad with research undertaken at 80 institutions, including colleges and universities, hospitals, prisons, and pharmaceutical companies.[14] The CIA operated through these institutions using front organizations, although sometimes top officials at these institutions were aware of the CIA's involvement.[15]"
"In 1977, a Freedom of Information Act request uncovered a cache of 20,000 documents relating to project MKUltra which led to Senate hearings later that year.[4][17] Some surviving information regarding MKUltra was declassified in July 2001."
Not "everybody" that's an exaggeration that is obviously wrong. However for one money has been grossly devalued by inflation https://inflationdata.com/articles/charts/cumulative-inflation-decade-1913/ to a big part due to national debt. National debt is to take money away from future generations to pretend that our current system works. http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Bernie Sanders could have had been president, that guys has an article on his official website praising venezuela:
https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/must-read/close-the-gaps-disparities-that-threaten-america
"These days, the American dream is more apt to be realized in South America, in places such as Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina, where incomes are actually more equal today than they are in the land of Horatio Alger. Who's the banana republic now?"
Which is a failed socialist state were people eat zoo animals out of desperation:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/19/hungry-venezuelans-break-into-caracas-zoo-and-butcher-a-horse/
Is it really a conspiracy theory akin to the gender pay gap that governments may take your stuff away? It is a very real thing right now in Venezuela, not far away from the U.S. There are current and lots of historic examples from the last 100 years.