많은 사회주의 노선을 선호하는 정치꾼들은 선거시마다 Populism정책을 내세우고, 유권자들을 유혹한다.
유권자들은 이들의 구호에 현혹되여 표를 아낌없이 주어, 그들이 정권을 잡으면 그순간부터 잘나가던 국가 경제부터 시작하여 국방, 사회적 기간산업부터 흔들리기 시작하고, 1-2년이 흐르면서부터, 많은 실업자를 양산하고, 경제는 곤두박질 치고, 온나라는 매일같이, 더많은 Social Benefit을 요구하는 시민들의 데모가 이어지고, 공중질서는 파괴되고, 더이상 퍼줄 돈이 없어, 결국 너주고, 나죽고 하는식으로 나라는 전체가 헤어나지못할 Abyss로 빠져들고, 결국은 이웃나라로 살길을 찾아 Exodus하는 사람들의 물결로 이웃나라까지 덩달아 격랑에 빠지게 되고 만다.
그런 나라들이 유럽에서는 Greece가 그표본이고, 당시 수상은 Greek-American 이었던"Papandreou".
그는 상당기간동안 University of Toronto에서 교수로 봉직하면서 Socialism을 강의 했었던 교수 출신이었었다.이론상으로는포퓰리즘이 최상의 정책처럼 보이나, 실제적으로는 환상에 그칠 뿐임을 그가 펼친 그리스 정치에서 극명히 나타나, 당시 EU에 정식 회원국으로 가입이 보류된 터키보다 더 경제가 구렁텅이로 빠져, EU의 긴급 수혈을 받았으나 아직도 끝없는 방황을 계속하고 있는 나라로 전락했다.
사진은 관이없어 천에 둘둘 말아서 그대로 매장하는 베네주엘라의 비극적 현실을 보여주고있다.
남미의 베네주엘라가1999년에 치러진 선거에서, 미국을 적대시하고, 사회주의 로선과 Populism을 내세운 좌파 성향의 우고 차베스가 집권하여,남미에서 가장 잘살고있는 베네주엘라는 그의 포퓰리즘에 국민들은 미쳐 날뛰며 "우고 차베스"를 마치 신처럼 떠받들며 환호 했었다. 퍼주는 포퓰리즘으로 국가경제는 바닥을 치고있는데, 때마침 국제 유가가 폭락하면서, 석유수입은 줄어들고, 국민들은 먹을것을 달라고 아우성 치면서, 남미의 최대부국 베네주엘라는 신이 저주하는 나라로 추락하고, 정신 못차린 국민들은 2013년 선거에서도 그에게 승리를 안겨주었으나, 질병인 암으로 세상을 떠남과 동시에 부통령이던 니콜라스 마두로가 정권을 이어 받아, 같은 정치로선과 포퓰리즘을 펼치면서, 베네주엘라는 지옥으로 변하고 말았었다.
이런 지옥에서는 먹고 살수가 없어 주민들은 먹거리를 찾아 이웃나라 콜럼비아로 Exodus가 이어졌고, 최근에는 사랑하는 가족들이 사망시, 시체를 모실 관(Coffin)을 구입할 돈이 없어, 임대(Rent)해서 사용하고, 또사용하는 비극이 줄줄이 일어나고 있는 참극이 벌어지고 있는 지옥이 됐다.
Atillo Gonzalez신부가 묘지에서,1월 28일,2014년 장례를 집전하는 광경인데, 그때 이후로 베네주엘라에서는 장례식 비용이 감당할수 없이 폭등하여 어려움을 겪고, 최근에는 관없이 헝겊이 대신하고 있다.
한국은 현재 그리스와 베네주엘라에서 처럼 포퓰리즘이 그정점에 이르러 청년실업자들에게 매달 100만원 내지 50만원씩 무상으로, 마치 월급 주듯이 퍼주고, 혈맹국인 미국을 적대시 하면서, 경제는 생전 보도듣지도 못했던 "소득주도 경제성장"이라는 이상한 정책을 펴서, 경제전문가들은 물론 뜻있는 국민들의 원성을 높이 사고 있지만, 눈하나 꿈쩍않고 계속 밀어 부치는것 까지는 억지로 이해하겠으나, 더욱 가관인것은 대한민국을 통채로 집어 삼키려고 기회만 엿보고 있는 이북 괴뢰정권에 통채로 3/8선을 열어주고, 5천만 국민들을 그들의 아구리에 통채로 넣어 주려는, 이름하여 "평화협정"을 맺어, 국회의 비준절차도 없이, 맘데로 서명하고, 이를 반대하는 언론들에는 자갈을 물리고, 또 이를 반대하는 사법부를 완전히 행정부의 시녀로 만들고, 사회주의 체제로 한창 매진하고 있어, 앞날이 마치 풍전등화 같이 위태로운 정치적 경제적 환경을 만들고, 최근에는 UN의 대북한 경제봉쇄 정책을 교묘히 피해가면서, 북한괴뢰집단에 철도를 무상으로 깔아주겠다고, 혈세를 쏟아붓고, 국민들에게 교화학습을 시키고 있는 문재인 정권이 날뛰고 있는데, 그양상이 꼭 그리스와 베네주엘라에서 일어났던 전철을 그대로 밟고 있다.
지금의 추세로 간다면, 장기집권을 위해 더많은 Populism정책으로 Bait를 던져놓고, 헌법개정을 안할거라는 보장도없어 보인다. 그렇게되면, 정말로 대한민국의 실날같은 희망은 없어져버릴것이다.끔찍하다.
그래도 다행인것은 이러한 사회주의, 전제주의로 추락하는 문통정부의 악행을 국민들에게 알리고, 이를 막기위해 수많은 You Tube방송들이 목이 터져라 외쳐대고 뒤늦게나마 많은 국민들의 호응을 얻고있다는 점이다.
오늘 미국의 Fox News는 베네주엘라의 국가적 비극을 보도하면서, 그중의 하나는, 사랑하는 가족중의 한사람이 삶을 마감했을때, 마지막 편히 모실 관(Coffin)하나 준비할 돈이 없어 사람들은 관을 임대(Rent)해서 사용한후 다시 반납하면, 그관은 또 다른 사람의 주검을 위해 사용돼고, 또 반납돼고...이참극을 보도하는 부분이 특히 눈에 띄었었다.
이뉴스를 읽으면서, 대한민국의 앞날이 베네주엘라와 Overlap되여 암울하기만 한다. 정부가 사회주의, 또는 Dictatorship으로 변하면서, 자유를 더 조이면 그때는 수많은 인명이 희생된다해도, 원위치인 Democratic Society로 되돌리기는 거의 불가능하다. 국민들이 Populism이 표를 얻기위한 사기극인것을 뒤늦게 알고 정신 차렸을때는, 다른 선택의 여지가 없고, 오직 할수있는것은 그나마 목숨을 부지하기하기위해 이웃나라 콜럼비아로 탈출하는것 뿐이다. 잘살아오던 한국의 앞날이 지옥을 향해 전속력으로 달려가는것을 보면서도 이를 제지할 힘이 없음이 안타까울 뿐이다. 이런 마음이 어찌 나뿐이겠는가? 이를 세계역사가 증명해준다.
CUCUTA, Colombia – As the crisis in Venezuela's
socialist dictatorship deepens – gripped by mass hunger, starvation and a
lack of medical supplies - there is no comfort even for the dead.
“What
is happening is medieval. People are ‘renting’ caskets for a service,
but giving them back. The same casket is being used over and over again
because people cannot afford to buy one,” Venezuelan opposition leader
Julio Borges, who has been living in exile in the Colombian capital of
Bogota for the past nine months, told Fox News. “And then they have to
wrap the body in plastic ba
gs for the burial. Others don’t have money for a land plot, so they are burying loved ones in their back garden.”
Borges
said the “really creepy” problem of how to properly bury the dead has
become the norm rather than the exception. Other Venezuelans concurred,
indicating the use of “common graves,” along with backyard burials, was
becoming standard.gs for the burial. Others don’t have money for a land plot, so they are burying loved ones in their back garden.”
One Venezuelan, who asked his name not be published, described the sudden death of his father in the capital Caracas last week, which left the family without a vehicle to take the body to the morgue. It took more than a day for the body to be collected.
And even then, the family had to say their goodbyes – they had no money for a funeral, or burial – praying the body would be disposed of in some kind of mass cremation.
For every day a body remains in the morgue, the cost rises, leaving families without the means for collection. In such cases, loved ones are simply left stranded – their relatives in mourning, not knowing what to do, and without closure.
“Funeral services are too expensive. Coffins are expensive, as well as paying for a place in the cemetery and everything that comes with it: the chapel for the service, the plate,” Julett Pineda, a health journalist for Efecto Cocuyo in Caracas, told Fox News. “People cannot have a decent funeral.”
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Pineda’s latest estimate is that funerals in Venezuela cost more than 132 times the average minimum wage earned per month. That's around six dollars per person – making a final farewell far out of reach for most who would need years of savings to cover costs.
“In poorer areas, plywood coffins are sometimes being used,” explained Guillermo Aveledo, a 40-year-old political science professor at the University of Caracas. “Former middle classes can rent a proper coffin for the wake, but prefer cremation, which is cheaper.”
But even the process of cremation has become problematic. Locals described to Fox News the acute lack of natural gas needed to properly incinerate the bodies, despite the fact Venezuela has some of the largest energy reserves in the world. “In some very isolated places, people get used lots for burial, which creates sanitary problems,” Aveledo said.
The shortage of hearses is also an issue. There are fewer and fewer of them available, and the acute fuel shortage - wait times at some gas stations can be as long as 24 hours - makes it harder to keep them running.
In some extreme cases, impoverished Venezuelans are dragging their dead for days in the sweltering sun to reach the Colombian border, where locals are assisting them with some kind of burial.
Alexander Lopez, a disabled Venezuelan from Maracaibo who has resorted to selling keychains, incense, and trash bags for a few cents each in the Ecuadorian town of Cuenca, fled Venezuela six months ago. He left to find work to pay for his 19-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter, saying he could no longer sit by as his family was forced to scour through the trash for food.
남미 적도에 있는 에쿠아도르의 한거리에서 노점상을 하면서 약간의 돈을 벌어, 아들의 시체라도 데려오기위해 안간힘을 쓰고있는 Alexander Lopez의 모습.Tragically, his son Alexander was killed in a motorcycle accident on the small Venezuelan island state of Nueva Esparta two months ago. For weeks, the body languished at the morgue as family members were unable to afford the bus fare and boat to collect the remains. Lopez’s former wife, Alexander’s mother, was eventually able to use some law enforcement connections to help cobble together the money needed.
But when she got to the morgue, the owners would not release the body - demanding a bribe on top of the standard costs. “Everyone in Venezuela is so desperate for money, even the morgue will manipulate the people,” Lopez wept, holding up his son’s photograph.
For days, Lopez said, his wife trolled the streets and he and others sent whatever funds they could to pay the $150 morgue fee - an amount that far surpasses an average month’s earnings.
After the entire family hustled for further $88 to pay a local gravedigger, Alexander was finally laid to rest in a cemetery. There were no funds for a service, no memorial plaque or tombstone.
“Even with all that,” Lopez said softly, “the dead in Venezuela are still worth more than the living. I am worth nothing to that government.”
Lopez’s story is woven with even more tragedy. Three years ago, as the crisis accelerate, he was injured in a motorcycle accident. His wounded leg became infected a year later, but the lack of affordable medicines and medical professionals led to the loss of his leg, which was amputated.
“All they could do was cut it,” he said, motioning to where his right leg used to be.
Violent crime is also on the rise. Last week, two ex-major league baseball players - free agent Luis Valbuena and former player Jose Castillo - were killed in a crash after their car collided with a rock. Authorities believe the rock may have been deliberately placed in the road, as part of a robbery scheme.
“People throw rocks in the hope of stopping the car so they can steal it,” one Venezuelan humanitarian worker explained. “In this case, it ended horribly... Even if these men had survived, there are not adequate means in the hospital to save them.”
According to Aveledo, even the dead aren't immune to the rise in crime.
“Most cemeteries are public municipal lots. But the dearth of public safety exposes the tombs to looting, mourners, and visitors exposed to muggings, and wakes are restricted for a couple of hours during the day,” he said. “The wakes held for criminals are also very disruptive, public displays of their power and control of territories.”
As the country crumbles, so to have the resources to monitor how many have died. One local journalist said a handful of people try to keep tabs. A group of journalists visit the morgues at the end of each week to count the dead, trying to determine how many died from organized crime, and how many perished from “other” causes, like disease or malnutrition.
And that is just in Caracas. For the rest of the country that once had a population of 32 million, it’s anybody’s guess.
There's no indication the situation will improve any time soon. Despite once-brimming oil wealth that had Venezuela as the richest country in Latin America, the Nicolás Maduro-led government - which has continued the socialist policies of his predecessor, Hugo Chavez - has pushed the nation’s economy into dire freefall, upended by massive hyperinflation, food and medicine shortages. More than three million have fled in desperation since for crisis began spiraling out of control three years ago.
The government has denied that Venezuela is in crisis, and instead blames its economic woes on disgruntled opposition members, and the United States.
As for the death industry, like most things in Venezuela, a black market in coffins has emerged. This despite the scarcity of wood and other materials needed to make a casket.
“The price range of a coffin on the black market is about 50 to 100 dollars,” Aveledo said. “Sold on the web, or via messaging.”
https://www.foxnews.com/world/venezuela-crisis-families-cannot-afford-proper-funerals
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