IRVINE, CA--"Rebelling against tyranny is a lonely business these days," says Robert W. Tracinski, senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute. "If the brave citizens of an oppressed country dare to resist evil, they can expect the rest of the supposedly civilized world to react with hostility or indifference." Robert W. Tracinski was a senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute between 1997 and 2004.
Tracinski, also a columnist for Creators Syndicate, cites the current situation in Venezuela, where a popular movement is demanding the resignation of would-be dictator Hugo Chavez. Chavez and his backers rewrote Venezuela's constitution to extend his term in office and to give him the power to rule by decree. Last year Chavez used that power to stage a political takeover of Venezuela's state-controlled oil monopoly and to impose 49 decrees, giving him near-total power over Venezuela's economy.
Protesting Chavez's dictatorial rule, courageous Venezuelans from all walks of life have joined a vast general strike to free their country from tyranny. "So naturally everyone has condemned it," says Tracinski. "The Organization of American States, which condemned a similar rebellion last year, has sent a negotiator to seek a compromise between those who want freedom and the dictator who wants them under his boot. And the Bush administration has stayed carefully neutral."
"Venezuela is strategically important to the United States, providing 13 percent of our oil," notes Tracinski. "There are now two countries in the world where a popular rebellion is building against a dictatorship: Venezuela and Iran. In both cases America's interests and the cause of human freedom demand that we stop ignoring these crises and start supporting the freedom fighters.