{"id":1139286,"date":"2021-12-21T20:04:47","date_gmt":"2021-12-22T01:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1139286"},"modified":"2021-12-21T20:04:50","modified_gmt":"2021-12-22T01:04:50","slug":"with-venezuela-in-shambles-maduro-announces-15-day-backpacking-vacation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/with-venezuela-in-shambles-maduro-announces-15-day-backpacking-vacation\/","title":{"rendered":"With Venezuela in Shambles, Maduro Announces 15-Day Backpacking Vacation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwith-venezuela-in-shambles-maduro-announces-15-day-backpacking-vacation%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1139286&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">Venezuelan dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro announced on Monday that he would begin a 15-day backpacking vacation with his wife and \u201cfirst combatant\u201d Cilia Flores, telling Venezuelans, \u201cforget about me for 15 days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maduro\u2019s vacation coincides with Christmas week and the new year, typically a time of large celebrations in South America. Venezuela\u2019s celebrations have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2015\/12\/23\/christmas-dead-venezuela-left-without-food-lights-presents-holiday\/\">muted<\/a>, at best, for the past two decades, as the socialist regime under Maduro and previously late dictator Hugo Ch\u00e1vez has ravaged the country, causing extreme poverty and one of the world\u2019s worst migrant crises.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>At Miraflores, the Venezuelan presidential palace that Maduro <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/latin-america\/2019\/01\/23\/venezuela-swears-in-opposition-leader-as-president\/\">illegally<\/a> occupies, Christmas is often a lavish affair, using up much of what is left of Venezuela\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2019\/12\/18\/venezuelans-furious-maduro-spending-money-christmas-lights-frequent-blackouts\/\">electric supply<\/a>. Venezuela\u2019s electric grid failed once again last week, plunging 20 of the nation\u2019s 23 states into darkness. Maduro\u2019s regime did not offer any solutions for the problem, instead blaming unspecified enemies \u2013 presumably, the United States \u2013 for \u201cattacking\u201d the country.<\/p>\n<p>Amid extreme food insecurity, unreliable water and electric supplies, and no functional plan to address the rising threat of the omicron variant of the Chinese coronavirus around the world, Maduro told his citizens to simply forget that he exists in a video initially posted to Chinese social media outlet TikTok.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to catch 15 days of vacation, Cilia and I, starting on November 20,\u201d Maduro <a href=\"https:\/\/runrun.es\/noticias\/463248\/olvidense-de-mi-por-15-dias-cilia-y-yo-nos-vamos-de-mochileros-y-otras-perlas-prenavidenas-de-maduro\/\">said<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re taking a backpack and going around all of Venezuela. Beaches, mountains, desert, the Gran Sabana. We\u2019re going on a bicycle, Cilia and I. Forget about me for 15 days!\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/CXq9EjsFiVC\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" readability=\"-0.27272727272727\">\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Maduro offered few details about where in Venezuela he would go or how he would do so safely, given that under his tenure the country has become one of the deadliest in Latin America.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVenezuela has one of the highest number of violent deaths in the region and in the world. Last year closed with an estimated 16,506 murders and a rate of 60.3 violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, well above any other country in Latin America,\u201d the U.S. State Department\u2019s Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.osac.gov\/Country\/Venezuela\/Content\/Detail\/Report\/0e6ed0e0-eb8e-44cc-ab81-1938e6c8d93f\">noted<\/a> last year. Many of those deaths, however, it reported as \u201ccaused by resistance to the government, mostly homicides committed by state security forces by excessive use of force\/extrajudicial execution\u201d \u2013 a threat presumably not affecting the country\u2019s dictator.<\/p>\n<p>Maduro\u2019s abrupt abandonment of his role as forced leader of the country prompted outrage online, where Venezuelans flooded his social media outlets with angry comments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow embarrassing,\u201d one user wrote. \u201cTell this to the public administration workers, let them go on vacation with their salary and the benefits they got.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>El Nacional<\/em>, one of Caracas\u2019 oldest and most prominent newspapers, published a damning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elnacional.com\/opinion\/las-vacaciones-presidenciales\/\">editorial<\/a> on Tuesday calling Maduro\u2019s vacation a \u201cshameless mockery\u201d of the Venezuelan people.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cHe says he is going to take two weeks\u2019 vacation, the last two weeks of the year, to travel the country as a backpacker. That is a shameless mockery. It cannot be called anything else,\u201d the newspaper\u2019s editors wrote. \u201cFirst, because it is obvious that nothing that one supposes the head of the government should be solving is resolved; on the contrary, in his years of government \u2026 everything has worsened to the point of submerging the country in total crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_16385180\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"39\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16385180\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Venezuela-scavengers.jpg\" alt=\"Venezuelan scavengers dig through trash at a landfill, in Pacaraima, Roraima State, Brazil, on the border with Venezuela, on February 28, 2019. (Photo by NELSON ALMEIDA \/ AFP) (Photo credit should read NELSON ALMEIDA\/AFP via Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Venezuelan scavengers dig through trash at a landfill, in Pacaraima, Roraima State, Brazil, on the border with Venezuela, on February 28, 2019. (Photo credit NELSON ALMEIDA\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cHe is going \u2018on vacation\u2019 without a solution to the electric crisis; without a trustworthy plan for covid [Chinese coronavirus] vaccine application; without saying how the gasoline problem will be solved for transportation in the country;\u201d&nbsp;<em>El Nacional&nbsp;<\/em>listed, \u201cwithout telling citizens what the plan is to restore the water supply; without clarifying the rules of the economic game to see if the country can get out of hyperinflation; without answering the thousands of mothers who have no way of feeding their children.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Maduro has largely avoided addressing any of those problems save for blaming the United States. Everything from electrical failures to food shortages and potential famine to the lack of a functional healthcare system \u2013 all the product of socialist mismanagement of the government \u2013 Maduro has blamed on an \u201ceconomic war\u201d allegedly waged by Washington.<\/p>\n<p>In reality, Washington\u2019s humanitarian aid to Venezuela, meant to reduce the dangerous effects of socialism on the Venezuelan people, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/the-united-states-announces-new-assistance-to-respond-to-the-ongoing-humanitarian-crisis-in-venezuela-and-the-region\/\">reaches<\/a> into the billions between 2017 and the end of 2021. Maduro Vice President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, in addition to not offering Venezuelans an alternative to international aid, has falsely claimed on state television that food and other necessities donated from America are \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/latin-america\/2019\/02\/13\/maduros-vice-president-tells-venezuelans-not-eat-poisoned-u-s-food-aid\/\">carcinogenic<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To distract Venezuelans from their anger at his regime, Maduro has moved up the Christmas holidays further and further from the actual Christmas Day every year. This year, the \u201cChristmas season\u201d officially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.t13.cl\/noticia\/mundo\/nicolas-maduro-vuelve-adelantar-navidad-octubre-venezuela-05-10-2021\">began<\/a> in October with a lavish event at Miraflores to debut the year\u2019s Christmas decorations.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIn Venezuela, we will have a happy Christmas full of lights and colors,\u201d Maduro announced on Twitter in October.<\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u00a1Ya es NAVIDAD en VENEZUELA!: As\u00ed lo ha anunciado MADURO en sus REDES SOCIALES | RTVE Noticias\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9I1OVBN2IDs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p>The Maduro Christmas season began about two weeks earlier this year than in 2020, when it began on October 15.<\/p>\n<p>Maduro departs for his backpacking adventure as the country reels from one of the worst blackouts in its history, resulting in no electricity in 20 of 23 states, and significant blackouts in the Caracas federal dictrict, on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elnacional.com\/venezuela\/reportan-apagon-en-20-estados-del-pais\/\">December 17<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBlackouts in the country are constant, especially in the east, where there are states that spend hours without electricity on a daily basis,\u201d&nbsp;<em>El Nacional<\/em> noted last week. \u201cAccording to opposition and union condemnations, electrical failures are due to the lack of investment and maintenance of the electric grid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>N\u00e9stor Reverol, Maduro\u2019s energy minister, had another explanation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday we have been subject to a new attack on the national electric grid,\u201d Reverol <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/es\/minuto-a-minuto\/20211217-apag%C3%B3n-en-20-estados-de-venezuela-gobierno-denuncia-criminal-ataque-al-sistema\">announced<\/a>. \u201cOnce again, those who attacked in 2019 strike against our people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The major 2019 blackout <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/latin-america\/2019\/12\/17\/venezuelas-national-electric-grid-failed-over-80000-times-in-2019\/\">affected<\/a> 22 of 23 states; it was one of over 80,000 electric grid failures that year. While Reverol did not blame America last week, he referenced accusations from Maduro and his officials at the time against the United States over the blackout.<\/p>\n<p>The Maduro regime has been so insistent on blaming, without providing any evidence, the United States for its failed electrical system that the subject became the plot of a newly debuted comic book cartoon titled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/latin-america\/2021\/12\/03\/super-mustache-maduro-debuts-superhero-persona-in-venezuelan-propaganda-cartoon\/\"><em>Super Mustache<\/em><\/a>, featuring Maduro as the titular hero. The first episode, released this month, showed former President Donald Trump conspiring with prominent members of the anti-Maduro Venezuelan opposition to take down the Venezuelan electric grip with an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. \u201cSuper Mustache,\u201d naturally, thwarts the plot.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frances Martel on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1640170903573000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3IOnSduDvDX2zpN4fOVkWq\">Facebook<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1640170903573000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1bCV2jFSIqmVEzDye8VYly\">Twitter.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Venezuelan dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro announced on Monday that he would begin a 15-day backpacking vacation with his wife and \u201cfirst combatant\u201d Cilia Flores, telling Venezuelans, \u201cforget about me for 15 &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1139286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1139286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1139286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1139286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1139286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1139286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1139286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}