Cuba Moves In for the Kill

Cuba Moves In for the Kill
By MARY ANASTASIA O'GRADY
Feb. 13, 2014 3:01 p.m. ET

Two people were shot dead Wednesday during a march to protest the
government in the streets of Caracas. Their identities have not been
officially released, but sources in Venezuela say the march was part of
"youth day" and that many of the participants were students. A third
person was killed in a separate political showdown in the Caracas
municipality of Chacao.

Nor have the perpetrators of the crime been identified. But it is
unlikely that the opposition shot its own. Venezuelan strongman Nicolas
Maduro has announced that street protests are hereby prohibited. He has
also put out arrest warrants for Leopoldo López, the former mayor of
Chacao, and at least one retired military officer who has been a vocal
government critic.

The violence against unarmed citizens is reminiscent of the April 11,
2002, bloodletting, when 17 individuals who were part of a peaceful
opposition march in the streets of Caracas were similarly gunned down by
snipers. That was the day the head of the military told Hugo Chávez that
he would not move against the crowd and that he was removing Chávez from
office. Chávez prevailed, in part due to U.S. dogma against "a coup" and
in part because the opposition bungled what ought to have been a
transition to democracy.

Twelve years later, Mr. Maduro is facing official inflation of
56%—probably much higher—and food shortages. The government admits that
in its latest survey, 28% of basic food stuffs cannot be found on store
shelves. On Monday Toyota and General Motors announced that they had to
suspend operations at their assembly plants due to a shortage of parts,
which come from abroad. News reports say at least 12 million Venezuelan
jobs are at stake.

The problem is that the central bank cannot supply the dollars necessary
to pay suppliers of imports of manufacturing components or food. When
dollars have to be secured in the black market, price controls make it
impossible for vendors to make money. Until now large international
companies have been limping along. Most other entrepreneurs have had a
much more difficult time.

In a democracy, such desperation often signals the fall of the
government. But the democracy is long gone. Mr. Maduro has been coached
by Cuba all his adult life, and it shows. The government has control of
all Venezuelan television and radio. During the heat of the violence it
blocked the signal of Colombian news station NTN, which had been
supplying Venezuelans with up-to-the-minute information.

The last gasp of press freedom is print media. But now newspapers say
they cannot get the dollars to buy newsprint and will have to shut down
soon. In other words, they will go the way of all the other democratic
institutions in the country.

The military government's prohibition on street protests is the final
nail in the free-speech coffin. The opposition has pledged to disobey
that command, which means that enforcing it will require more violence
against the public. If that happens, the Chávez dream of turning the
country into another Cuba will have become a reality.

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