Venezuela’s Brain Drain

Actually, this is right on cue. One of the “canaries in the coal mine” for totalitarianism is the fleeing of those with means and education.

For the past eight years, rich Venezuelans have been trickling out of the country, spooked by the socialist bluster of their populist President, Hugo Chávez. But since being inaugurated for his third term in January, Mr Chávez’s talk has begun turning into substance, with an evermore radical series of moves to transform Venezuela into the world’s first “21st-century socialist state”. Now the super-rich are being joined by middle-class professionals and, increasingly, families.

At the US Embassy, citizenship claims and visa enquiries have doubled since January. A Canadian job fair, with a capacity of 500, was swamped by a crowd of 1,500. Every morning snaking queues form outside the embassies of Australia, Spain and Portugal to inquire about emigration there.

My expectation is that this will increase as more things like closing RCTV happen.

Hat tip: The Anchoress

Technorati Tags: Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, socialism

Filed under: North Korea • Venezuela

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